By Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central, but in Minna)
Ghastly multiple accidents, involving two Trailers, and a Sharon mini-bus has occurred in Duma village, Edati local government area of Niger state, claiming the lives of nine persons with seven others burnt to ashes.
The two trailers, one of them loaded with planks, a Sharon commercial mini-bus, and another car that could not be identified, according to eyewitnesses from the area, were involved in the accident which occurred around 10 am on Monday.
The two Trailers, one of them said to be on high speed and loaded with planks while the other had assorted types of consumable goods, it was gathered, were heading to Minna, the state capital when the incident occur.
The Sharon Commercial vehicle said to be overloaded with passengers mainly traders and heading for Kudu village for the weekly local market was said to be on top speed too. It allegedly rammed into the Trailer coming from the opposite direction and immediately went into flames.
Two other vehicles coming from both directions, but unknown to them that an accident has just occurred, the source told journalists on phone, also rammed into the burning vehicles and also went up in flames.
The Conductor of the Trailer carrying Planks, the eye witness said, was however lucky to have escaped death by the whiskers but not without serious injuries. He was said to have been rushed to General Hospital in Kutigi where he is said to be responding to treatment.
Another car said to be coming from the opposite direction was said to have been buried under one of the Trailers which was still burning at the time of writing this report.
It was also gathered that due to the intensity of the inferno, a team of firefighters who rushed to the scene of the accident could not immediately quench the inferno as they ran out of water and had to go scouting for more water.
Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission, (FRSC), Niger state, Mohammed Musa Ahmed, said he was yet to be briefed on the disaster when contacted. He promised to get back to the NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Correspondent later but could not do so as to at the time of this report.
Recall that a similar fire disaster occurred in Enagi, headquarters of Edati local government area less than a week ago in which no fewer than three people were roasted alive and properties, including shops and residential buildings also completely destroyed. NNL.
