Halima Musa, Dutse and Hamza Idris
29 September 2008
Damaturu — Eleven people where reported dead while several others were seriously wounded in a ghastly motor accident that occurred along Zakirai-Ringim road in Jigawa State on Saturday evening.
The accident, which occurred around 6.30pm, involved a commercial Peugeot 504 from Hadejia, which was on its way to Kano, a private car from Ringim and a commercial bus.
A witness, Malam AbdurRahman told Daily Trust that the three vehicles were involved in the collision which claimed two lives on the spot and wounded several others, who were rushed to the Ringim General Hospital. He added that three others died as they were taken to the hospital and by Sunday morning, a total of eleven had died, including the drivers of the two cars, a lecturer at Gumel College of Education and an auditor with Ringim Local Government Council. When contacted, the police public relations officer, ASP Abdu Jinjiri said the command was yet to receive a report on the accident.
Meanwhile eight people including a nursing mother and her baby were killed in two separate road accidents which occurred in Damaturu, Yobe State on the same day.
The first accident, which occurred along Potiskum-Damaturu road, involved a Yobe Line mass transit eighteen seater bus coming from Kano which had a burst tyre about two kilometres to the state capital. Witnesses said one man died on the spot while the nursing mother, her baby and two others died at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu.
Three other people died in another accident on Saturday involving another Yobe Line mass transit bus at Babban Gida, about thirty kilometres from the state capital.
Witnesses said the bus, which was coming to Damaturu from Gashua, equally suffered a bust tyre and somersaulted several times before it fell into the bush. The state commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Mr. Emmanuel Ekekwe confirmed that 37 people were involved in the two accidents which he attributed to the negligence of the drivers.
The commandant visited both scenes. Dr. Musa Dakasko of the Sani Abacha Hospital told reporters that out of the 29 people that survived the accidents, 11 have been treated and discharged while the remaining 18 who suffered serious injuries have been admitted, with a few transferred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
Elsewhere in Yobe State on Saturday, a ten tyre truck conveying wood and door frames fell on the Potiskum-Damaturu highway and blocked the road for several hours, which made vehicular movement very difficult. The driver was reportedly over speeding and lost control. No life was lost in the accident but it took men of the FRSC several hours to get a crane which moved the truck out of the way. Commander Ekekwe had called on the federal and state governments including the general public to assist his unit with working equipment.
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