Accidents: FEMA cautions truck drivers on vulnerable roads

The Director General of the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Abbas Idriss, has urged articulated vehicle drivers to always avoid roads that are vulnerable to accidents especially sharp bends or sloppy roads.

Idriss said though petrol stations were indispensable, there was need to ensure that residents were not threatened by their operations, adding that trucks conveying petrol should move with necessary fire fighting gadgets.

“The most important thing that we need to do is that drivers must be taught fire prevention techniques and they must move with at least 10kg of fire extinguishers,” he said.

He said vulnerable areas should be identified and articulated vehicles should be restricted from them because the city is getting more populated.

“We have to find a safer way for all articulated vehicle entering the city,” he added.

While referring to the accident on Sunday at a slope after AYA bridge in which four babies and three women died, he said it could have been avoided if the driver had followed the Murtala Mohammed Expressway en route Niger State.

He suggested that a road sign should be placed at the bridge restraining articulated trucks from using the road until the construction work is completed.

He said the truck was loaded with about 33, 000 litres of petrol making the fire to be overwhelming but he commended the fire wardens who, he said, helped in minimising the damage.