11 die, 11 others injured in Kogi road accident

No fewer than 11 people died in a motor accident that occurred at Ohiana area, along Okene-Auchi road in Kogi State on Wednesday.

The victims were said to have died on the spot of the accident, while 11 others sustained serious but various degrees of injuries.

Metro learnt that the accident involved an 18 seater commercial bus and an articulated vehicle.

Eyewitness account of the accident said it occurred at about 6 am when the Toyota Hiace bus with registration number Delta AYB 939 XP had head-on-collission with a trailer loaded with cement.

The driver of the bus, belonging to Big Joe Transport Company was said to have lost control of the vehicle on top speed thereby resulting in the accident.

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Okene unit commander, Dr Sunday Ogungbemi, said preliminary investigation revealed that the bus which had 22 passengers on board was heading to Warri from Abuja when the accident occurred.

He however, added that the accident might have been caused by over-speeding by the driver of the bus who lost control and crashed into the trailer truck that was coming from Okpella.

The unit commander stated that 11corpses were deposited in the morgue at the Okene General Hospital, while the 11survivals that sustained various degrees of injuries were taken to the hospital in Okene for medical attention.

Ogungbemi regretted that many of the accidents were due to motorists that considered highways as race track for unhealthy competition.

The FRSC commander said recent accident rates had again justified the stand of the commission on the installation of Speed limit device on vehicles in order to mitigate unnecessary deaths on our roads. 

He called on road users to be more careful during the Easter Season and advised passengers not to leave their fate in the hands of drivers.