The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has revealed that a fatal crash that occurred on Sunday at Okene bypass, on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State has claimed 19 lives.
Assistant Corps Marshal, Corps Public Education Officer, Jonas Agwu, in a statement issued yesterday said the emergency rescue teams of the agency endured another over 3 hours of inferno in their bid to rescue road traffic victims at the scene.
He said the crash which was caused by route violation ‘One Way’ and wrongful overtaking, involved 22 people all male.
Agwu stressed that unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and one person was injured.
He added that 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
Agwu noted: “The emergency rescue teams of the the Federal Road Safety Corps endured another over 3 hours of inferno in their bid to rescue road traffic victims at the scene of a fatal crash that claimed 19 lives on Sunday 28 April, 2024 at Okene bypass, on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.”
Agwu added that the investigation report revealed that the crash involved two vehicles comprising of a Dangote Truck bearing the following registration details NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number KMC455ZE.
He noted: “The Toyota Hiace Bus loaded from Kano was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote Truck driver who drove all the way from Portharcourt 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.
“The crash which was caused by route violation ‘One Way’ and wrongful overtaking, involved 22 people all male. Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and 1 injured.
“The remaining 2 victims who got rescued by FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt. “
Agwu said the corpses of the dead victims whose lives were claimed by the crash have been deposited at Okene General Hospital.