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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Following the seemingly unending repair on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dual carriage highway by the federal government, another 14 travelers lost their lives while seven others sustained varying degrees of injury in a fatal auto crash involving a commercial bus and a truck at Kilometre 27 close to Olam farms.
Preliminary findings revealed that the Toyota Hiace bus, ash colour with the registration number BWR658YL with 25 passengers on board dangerously overtook another vehicle which led to its head-on collision with a DAF trailer, blue with registration number PKM969XA killing 14 people on the spot, injured 7 while four others escaped unhurt.
Acting Sector Commander, Kaduna State Command, Deputy Corps Commander Garba Lawal who confirmed the development to Daily Sun via a phone call said the injured have been taken to a nearby hospital while the 14 corpses have been deposited at St Gerald Catholic Hospital, Kaduna.
“It is true. The crash was caused by the commercial bus driver who embarked on dangerous overtaking which led to head-on collision with a trailer coming on the opposite direction”, he said.
Eyewitness accounts recounted that the accident affected the free flow of traffic while men of the FRSC were on the ground to manage the situation.
The federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari had five years ago announced its intention to repair the busiest federal road from Abuja-Kaduna-Kano.
However, due to poor funding, the contractors handling the project including Julius Berger have been economical with the pace of work leading to several deaths and the destruction of property.
The contractor handling this particular section of the road where today’s accident happened had begun work on one lane but abandoned it, forcing motorists in and out of Kaduna to use one lane.
