By Luka Binniyat
KADUNA — No fewer than 16 people died, Wednesday night, while about 81 others sustained serious injuries when an open lorry with about 119 passengers crashed into the forest in Birnin Gwari, 60 kilometres from Kaduna State metropolis while heading towards Lagos.
The haulage vehicle with number plate, Kano XC 230 GML, was reportedly travelling on a high speed to Lagos from Kano with the passengers said to be mainly youths when it allegedly swerved into the bush and rammed into a tree even as the driver dozed off, apparently due to tiredness.
Eyewitnesses told newsmen: "When we heard of the incident early in the morning (yesterday), we came out in good numbers to rescue those that we could," adding that altogether, about 16 people died instantly while 81 others were seriously injured.
The eyewitnesses also said many of the survivors sustained spinal cord injuries even as they blamed most truck drivers plying the road of being in the habit of endangering the lives of other road users in the past.
Explaining reasons for the high casualty figure, they said: "Just imagine how bad the road is, yet motorists do not only drive above speed limit, but drive dangerously even when they are overloaded, without caring about what happened to other road users.
''Most of these drivers, because they do not like to drive empty when travelling back to Lagos from Kano State or other parts of the far north, normally carry many passengers, mostly youths for as cheap as N1,000.
"Most of these young people sit on the bare floor of the trucks while others stand, not minding the distance or implications, just because they want to get to Lagos at all cost.''
An official of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, in Kaduna State, Mohammed Ibrahim, described the incident as "quite unfortunate," pointing out that "most times, some of these avoidable accidents occur because road users do not adhere strictly to safety rules."
According to Ibrahim, "most people drive in the night without good head lamps, and even when they have, they do not deem light for fellow drivers approaching from the opposite direction. Apart from overspeeding, they also carry more people than necessary because they want to make quick money."
"Over-loading has become one of the major causes of road mishap these days. My advice to road users is that they should drive with caution because it is only he who drives and gets to his destination safely that is said to be a good driver."
Vanguard Nigeria