Following the crash, it was learnt that the vehicles burst into flames, making recovery efforts more difficult for the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
An auto crash at the Okene bypass on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State claimed 19 lives on Sunday.
Following the crash, it was learnt that the vehicles burst into flames, making recovery efforts more difficult for the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
A statement by the FRSC Assistant Corps Marshal, Corps Public Education Officer, Jonas Agwu, on Sunday said that the emergency rescue teams of the agency “endured over three hours of inferno in their bid to rescue road traffic victims at the scene of a fatal crash that claimed 19 lives on Sunday”.
Agwu said the FRSC emergency rescue teams deployed to rescue the victims could not achieve the desired results as their efforts were “unduly hindered by the fire inferno that engulfed the two vehicles”.
He said, “You would recall that the Corps Marshal had during his press conference on Thursday last week drawn the attention of road users to issues of imbibing moral and ethical rebirth, which have become a major issue in the country.
“He warned against traffic violations citing instances where they resulted in avoidable crashes with fire outbreak, leading to wanton loss of precious lives & destruction to properties.
“As a result of that he had earlier emphasised on the need for maximum penalty for these drivers.
“Dauda Biu reaffirmed the resolution of the Corps to continue its ongoing prosecution of drivers who by their actions cause road traffic crashes in Nigeria, noting that the driver of the truck involved in the Okene crash will not be an exception.
“As such, he called on the Judiciary, leadership of transport unions and other relevant stakeholders in the road transportation sector to join hands with the Corps towards restoring sanity through speedy and effective prosecution,” part of the statement read.
Agwu stated that the crash investigation report revealed that the crash involved two vehicles comprising a Dangote truck bearing the following registration details NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number KMC455ZE.
According to him, the bus loaded from Kano was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote truck driver who drove from Port Harcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle and collided head-on with the bus.
“The impact of the collision resulted in a fire inferno that burnt the victims to death,” he said.
Agwu said that the crash which was caused by route violation 'One Way' and wrongful overtaking, involved 22 people - all male.
He said, “Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and 1 injured.
“The remaining two victims who got rescued by FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt.
“The corpses of the dead victims whose lives were claimed by the crash have been deposited at Okene General Hospital.”