15 passengers burnt near Abaji
Fifteen passengers were burnt to death in the early hours of yesterday in a commuter bus which caught fire at Manderegi village, near Abaji, on the Abuja- Lokoja road.
A witness who identified himself as Saidu, told our reporter at the scene of the incident that it happened at about 02:00am.
Saidu said the 18-seater Toyota bus with registration number: RNG 818 XA, rammed into the back of a parked DAF trailer with registration number: DKA 871 ZU.
He said the bus was coming from the Lokoja axis when the driver lost control and rammed into the trailer.
“The bus went up in flames. The villagers came out trying to rescue the passengers but there was no way. However, we were able to rescue one of them,” he said.
He furthrer said the driver of the trailer and two of his conductors immediately pulled out the head of the trailer and drove away when the bus caught fire.
Our reporter who visited the scene around 08:00am counted 15 bodies, while men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were diverting vehicles coming from the Lokoja axis.
When contacted, the Abaji Unit Commander of the FRSC, Olasupo Esuruoso, confirmed the accident, which he attributed to wrongful overtaking and speed limit violation.
Esuruoso said the 15 burnt passengers who had been handed over to their relatives for burial were on their way to Jigawa State from Lagos.
He said one of the passengers who only sustained injuries was taken to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada.
“Initially, we intended to give them mass burial as directed by the secretary of the area council and the traditional ruler when we couldn’t reach their families, but some hours later, the families came and we handed over the corpses to them,” he said.
The FRSC commander further blamed the driver of the trailer for not indicating that the trailer was either parked or that it broke down on the middle of the road.