TheCable

An accident along Kwali-Abaji expressway in the federal capital territory (FCT) has left 17 people dead and four injured.

Bisi Kazeem, public education officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said the accident happened around 6:30 am on Tuesday.

Kazeem said the crash involved a trailer with registration number BAU 632 XA, and a Toyota bus with GME 201 ZU as its registration number.

He described the incident as “avoidable” and attributed excessive speed and fatigue as the cause.

Kazeem added that the fatigue was a result of the driver’s indulgence in a night-long trip without observing adequate rest within the driving period.

“Unfortunately, there where a total of 22 occupants involved in the crash, out of which 17 victims all male were killed. 4 other occupants, also male victims who were rescued alive sustained various degrees of injuries, while the remaining 1 male occupant was rescued without any injury,” the statement reads.

“As at the time of this statement, the emergency rescue team of the corps has concluded the rescue of the injured victims to Abaji General Hospital for immediate medical attention, while the remains of the dead victims were deposited at the mortuary.”

Kazeem quoted Dauda Biu, acting FRSC corps marshal, as saying drivers must avoid speeding as crash investigations conducted over the years have attributed accidents to excessive violation of legal speed limits.

Biu also warned against night trips while urging drivers to always observe a rest period of 30 minutes after every four-hour drive so as to avoid the danger of fatigue on the highways.

He said incessant violations necessitated the directive given by the federal government for the corps to commence sensitisation and enforcement of compulsory installation of speed-limiting devices.

Kazeem said the FRSC would beef up operational activities to curb the violations and encouraged the public to patronise the FRSC toll-free line 122 and the national traffic radio 107.1 FM to report emergencies.