Seven die, six injured in Plateau road crash

• Red Cross to build orphanage, accident victims home in Delta
No fewer than seven persons lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident involving a truck with registration number BSA 214 XA and a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number BSA 453 XJ at Hawan Kibo on the Hawan–Kibo–Jos road in Riyom local government area of Plateau State.

The truck belongs to Dangote company while the bus was from God’s Time is the Best Transport company in Jos.

An eyewitness said the fatal accident occurred at about 7:47p.m. on Tuesday when the haulage vehicle heavily loaded with goods suddenly lost control after a brake failure while descending from the notorious Hawan Kibo hill and rammed into a Toyota Hiace coming from the opposite direction.

The eyewitness said the truck was coming from Abuja end while the bus branded God’s Time is the Best Transport Company took off from Jos. He added that the two vehicles collided leaving seven persons dead and another six with severe injuries.

Public Education Officer of the Plateau State command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Andrew Bala, who confirmed the accident to journalists, said preliminary investigation revealed the accident was as a result of brake failure by the truck, which lost control and ram into the incoming bus.

Bala, who said 13 passengers were involved in the accident, consisting of 10 males and three females, added that seven died on the spot while six others who sustained injuries were taken to the nearby Salama Hospital in Kafanchan and the bodies of those who died deposited at Kafanchan General Hospital’s Mortuary in Kaduna State.

The FRSC spokesman said the timely intervention of men of the command to the scene of the accident reduced the number of casualty, adding that Hawan Kibo hill is crash prone especially during the raining season.

He enjoined motorists plying the route to be more careful, drive with care and desist from speeding, particularly during this rainy season. He also advised motorists to ensure their vehicles are in good condition before plying the highways.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society in Delta State has announced plans to construct an orphanage and accident victims home to assist orphans and victims of accidents. Adolphus Anuagasi, the state chairman who made this known disclosed that the building is the Red Cross contribution to society, adding that the two-storey building will house an orphanage and provide first aid for trauma and accident victims.

He stated that “the building will continue to serve many purposes, including health challenges, especially among children and it is our prayers that we will continue to hold firm to our humanitarian torches, and ensure that it burns the highest as we continue in our unending endeavour to offer humanitarian aid to the rest of humanity whenever it may be needed.”

Anuagasi explained that the branch had hosted humanitarian programmes, such as community-based health and first aid, water sanitation and health programme in several local government areas that were affected by the flood disaster in 2018 among other humanitarian gestures to help victims reclaim their lives again.

Expressing elation, the National President of the society, Chief Bolaji Anani, represented by the South South Zonal Chairman, Prince John Egbe, commended the branch for embarking on such a noble venture and urged members to always live by the tenets of the Red Cross.

In another development, an official of the FRSC in Bauchi, Sector Commander Abdulrazak Najume has put together a short tutorial for Nigerian drivers having to deal with the numerous potholes on the roads that have been responsible for hours of traffic and deaths.

According to him, fatal head-on collisions happen because drivers are in the habit of swerving to the left on to on-coming traffic either because they are ignorant of the dangers of their actions or because they do not just adhere to the rules. He explained that swerving to the left is suicidal, and if you must, you have to ensure that there is no car coming from the opposite direction.