Fourteen individuals have passed away while 13 others got different levels of injuries in a crash at Aloma community in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The crash happened on Sunday and involved a Toyota Sienna bus going to Abuja from Port Harcourt and a Toyota Hiace bus traveling to the Southern part of the country.
Observers said the crash happened when two commercial Toyota buses collided head-on.
An eyewitness stated, “The 13 people along with the Hiace Bus driver were completely burned by the fire that quickly covered it after the head-on impact with the Sienna bus.
“But one out of the four surviving individuals in the bus died in the hospital from the burns suffered, making the total number of deaths 14.”
He also mentioned that none of the 10 passengers in the Sienna Bus died but they were severely injured and are receiving treatment in the hospital.
He pointed out that the injured victims were promptly rescued by the villagers who quickly arrived at the accident scene.
“It’s because of their timely intervention that the Sienna bus did not catch fire as well, ” he said.
He attributed the accident to excessive speeding and potholes along a bend near Government Science Secondary School, Aloma.
He mentioned that it took rescuers 3 hours to extricate the driver of the Sienna bus, whose two legs were reportedly badly damaged.
The Sector Commander, FRSC, Samuel Oyediji confirmed the incident but said he was yet to get details when contacted.
“I’m yet to be briefed by the unit commander in that area about the true picture of the accident, ” he said.
