Auto Crashes Claim 20 Travellers On Benin-Asaba Highway

No fewer than 20 persons reportedly lost their lives along Benin-Asaba expressway yesterday in an auto-crash which occurred at about 5.30pm.

Eyewitness said that apart from the 18-seater bus with registration number AA 246 XX which crashed into the bush around Onicha-Ugbo leaving the 18 passengers dead, another lorry driver lost his brakes and veered off the road almost at the same scene, killing himself and his conductor instantly.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the 18-seater bus lost two of its tyres while on top speed before crashing into the bush.
Road safety officials who were on hand to evacuate the dead bodies, but craved anonymity, blamed the driver of the bus for reckless driving.
The trailer was said to have leapt out of the lorry after he lost the brakes of the vehicle while the lorry was still in motion in an attempt to save his life, but jumped into broken bottles, while his colleague died under the trailer after it crashed into the bush.
LEADERSHIP checks reveal that frequent accidents on the expressway in the last six months has left no fewer than 75 persons dead,  a situation road safety officials blamed on reckless driving.
At the time of filing the report, relations of the victims were seen at the scene of the accident wailing.
Only last Sunday, two tankers were involved in a head-on collision in which four people reportedly died.
Meanwhile, eight people have been confirmed dead around Tanjol and Dukum villages of  Riyom local government area of Plateau State foolowing an attack by unknown gunmen.
Special Task Force (STF) media and information officer, Captain Salisu Mustapha, said six villagers were killed while three others were injured by the assailants in Dukum.
According to him, two others were ambushed and killed between Jos and Tanjol in Riyom LGA.
He said the deaths were suspected to be reprisals following the killing of six cows and the injuring of three people.