Posted by By ATTAHIRU AHMED, Gusau on
Tears flowed uncontrollably at the Gusau headquartres of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Zamfara State yesterday as a result of a ghastly motor accident that claimed the lives of 33 passengers. Among them are nine youth corps members serving in the state.
Tears flowed uncontrollably at the Gusau headquartres of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Zamfara State yesterday as a result of a ghastly motor accident that claimed the lives of 33 passengers. Among them are nine youth corps members serving in the state.
The auto crash occurred along the Gusau-Sokoto road near Federal Goverment Girls' College, Gusau. According to eyewitnesses, the bloody crash occurred when two commuter buses coming from different directions had a head-on collision and immediately caught fire.
It was gathered that the 33 occupants of the two buses respectively were all roasted before fire fighters could arrive the scene. However, an unconfirmed number of toddlers managed to survive the accident, though with severe wounds.
It was further learnt that 'the driver of one of the two ill-fated buses, a Peugeot J5, which was coming from Kaduna and heading to Sokoto, veered off his lane, trying to avoid crushing a creeping object believed to be an alligator. ' Unknown to him, there was another vehicle coming from Sokoto at a sharp bend and the two collided," recounted the source..
Speaking to Saturday Sun, leader of the rescue team of National Security and Civil Defence Corps, which arrived the scene earlier than anyone, Mr.Akubuiroh Chika, a deputy commandant, said nine identity cards of NYSC members serving in the state were recovered and that two other national identity cards were also recovered.
He lamented, amid sobs, that the roasted passengers included 20 female and 10 male with three others being burnt beyond recognition. "We were able to rescue alive, three female and six male, mostly children," he said.
The deputy commandant added that over N63, 000 was recovered, "But out of it, N61, 000 was slightly burnt while N3, 410 was recovered intact".
When our correspondent called at the NYSC state secretariat, the state director could not be reached while the premises was filled with sympathizers.