Desmond Mgboh, Kano
No fewer than 14 persons were killed in an auto crash that occurred Thursday night at Makoli town, some 20 kilometers to Kano metropolis.
A Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Zubairu Mato said that eight other passengers, similarly involved in the crash, sustained injuries.
The accident which occurred at about 11pm on Thursday when a commercial bus, with plate number DAL 116XA exploded into flame midway resulting in the loss of lives.
According to Mato, at the time of the accident, the ill fated bus was conveying two men, 15 women, two young boys and three young girls adding that among the deceased were two men, seven women and five children in the vehicle.
The Sector Commander blamed the accident on overloading, adding that his men arrived soon after the accident to help rescue the victims and convey them to a hospital even as he acknowledged the role played by the police from Gano Division in the rescue operations.
The victims were immediately evacuated to Wudil General Hospital while the deceased were deposited in the mortuary, adding that the injured were being attended to at the hospital.
The Jigawa – Wudil – Kano highway is noted for frequent accidents with fatalities.