(The crash. Photo Credit: Premuim Times)
Eleven passengers lost their lives after a commercial bus travelling along the Abuja–Kaduna Expressway crashed into a stationary truck and caught fire early Wednesday, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC. Reader discretion is advised.
The crash occurred around 5:39 a.m. at Maraban Isa, near Jere in Kaduna State, involving a white Fiat Ducato commercial bus and a MAN diesel truck that had developed a mechanical fault and was parked along the highway’s shoulder.
Kaduna Sector Commander of the FRSC, Andrew Longkam, speaking through the command’s public relations officer, said preliminary findings suggest excessive speed caused the collision.
He explained that the truck had been safely parked off the road after breaking down, but the bus came at high speed, crashed into it, and burst into flames.
According to him, the bus was carrying 16 male occupants, 11 of whom died in the crash, while the remaining five sustained injuries ranging from bruises and dislocations to deep lacerations.
He confirmed that all those killed were passengers of the Fiat Ducato.
The truck, meanwhile, had only two occupants, the driver and his assistant, both of whom escaped unharmed since they were outside the vehicle attempting repairs when the bus struck it.
Longkam explained that the first three passengers seated at the front of the bus were trapped upon impact, and as fire spread through the vehicle, the remaining occupants also lost their lives.
The FRSC said its Jere Outpost received the crash report at 5:42 a.m., with a rescue team arriving at the scene just four minutes later.
Injured victims were evacuated, while the bodies of those killed were taken to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Memorial Hospital, Sabon Wuse.
The truck was identified as a white MAN diesel truck bearing registration number JJN 581 XB, while the bus was identified as a white Fiat Ducato with registration number MAN 243 XA.
The FRSC classified the incident as a fatal multiple-vehicle collision, attributing it to speed violation.
In total, the corps said 18 people were involved in the crash, comprising 11 fatalities, five injured survivors, and two unharmed individuals, the truck driver and his assistant.
(injured survivor. Photo by Premuim times)
