Road crash: 14 burnt to death in Kwara

Fourteen persons  were burnt to death yesterday in an accident involving a fuel tanker and a truck.

About 14 others sustained varying degrees of burnt injuries after the two vehicles collided on the Ogbomoso-Jebba Road in Ilorin.

The truck, which was loaded with cattle and  passengers, was said to be coming from the North while the tanker was heading towards the opposite direction when the accident occurred at dawn.

The Kwara State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mary Wakawa, confirmed the incident.

She said: “One of the heavy duty vehicles veered off its lane and collided with the other. This was around 5am.

“Both vehicles went on flame. Thirteen died on the spot while one died in the hospital. We rushed 14 injured passengers with severe burns to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).

“Already, with the support of the Kwara State Transport Management Agency(KWTMA), we had evacuated the wreck.”

Wakawa, while cautioning the road users against excessive speed, night driving and driving exhaustion, said the 13 charred bodies of the victims had been given a mass burial.

She attributed the accident to exhaustion, adding: “Our drivers should stop long driving overnight. They need to rest to avoid human errors on the roads.”