It was a sad day for the families of 17 people as they were killed in auto-crash that occured at Bacita junction along Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa expressway in Kwara state.
The accident involved an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus and an articulated DAF trunk carrying container.
An eyewitness account revealed that the accident was due to speeding and dangerous driving as the two vehicles had an head-on collision at a bend along the highway.
The source said that while 17 passengers in the bus were killed, two occupants of the articulated vehicle suffered various degrees of injuries.
Udeme Eshiet, the Head of Operations of the Kwara command, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), confirmed the road mishap.
He explained that the DAF container truck was going towards Jebba, in the Kwara North District, while the passengers’ bus was coming to Ilorin, the state capital, from the Northern Nigeria when the crash occurred.
The FRSC official said the crash occurred at a sharp bend, as a result of speeding, which led to head-on collision by the two vehicles.
“Due to excess speeding in which the two drivers were involved while driving their vehicles at the time when the crash occurred, they could not negotiate the sharp bend properly, and when they eventually met, it resulted in head on collision,” he said.
He said the remains of the deceased had been taken to a hospital in Ilorin, with the injured victims for treatment.
