Driver burnt to death as tanker crashes at Ukya village
A middle-aged driver was burnt to death after a petrol tanker crashed and went up in flames on Saturday afternoon at Ukya village, on the Abaji-Toto road.
Our reporter learnt that the conductor of the unmarked tanker, who sustained various degrees of burn, was rescued by sympathizers and taken to Toto General Hospital, Nasarawa State.
A witness said the incident happened around 12: 47 pm when the driver of the tanker, loaded with 33,000 liters of petrol, lost control while negotiating a sharp bend and crashed into the bush.
“The tanker caught fire instantly after it crashed and the driver was trapped inside. There is no way he could be rescued due to the high intensity of the fire but the conductor managed to escape with serious burns,” he said.
This reporter, who arrived an hour later, saw the burnt corpse of the driver covered with grasses, while some Muslim clerics from Abaji and Toto performed a funeral prayer on the corpse before it was buried at the scene of the accident.
When contacted, Abaji unit commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Moses Audu, said he was not aware of the incident, saying it was not reported to the unit command.
In a related development, three persons were seriously injured in another accident which occurred on Friday evening near RCC junction, on the Kwali-Lokoja highway.
Yangoji unit commander of the FRSC, Austine Chukwudi Okeke, who confirmed the accident, said it happened around 6:14pm when a Ford bus with registration number GME 367 AE, had a tyre burst on top speed and crashed into a ditch.
He said the two injured victims, who sustained serious injuries were taken to Kwali General Hospital for attention.