•Trailer runs over school bus in Kano
Paul Orude, Bauchi
No fewer than 28 people including 25 students, three teachers of Government Comprehensive Day Secondary School (GCDSS), Misau, Bauchi State, and a driver, were crushed to death by a trailer yesterday.
Daily Sun gathered that the students and their teachers were travelling to Gidan Dan Hausa, Kano, Kano State, for an excursion inside a commercial Hummer Toyoto bus, when they had a collision with the trailer at about 10am.
The accident occurred at Gaya village in Kano State, and the victims were Junior Secondary School (JSS) 1 and 2 students of GCDSS, Misau, with three of their teachers.
The bus was coming from Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
An eyewitness, Ibrahim Adamu, said the bus had a head-on collision with an articulated vehicle carrying tomatoes while they were both trying to avoid a pothole at Samia Uku village.
A teacher from the school, Ya’u Mohammed, who teaches Biology, said 22 of the students and three teachers died on the spot while three of the students died on their way to the hospital in Darazo.
When contacted, Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Bauchi State Command, Mr. Paul Guar, confirmed the accident, saying that it occurred at Gaya, which is under the jurisdiction of Jigawa State Command.
Ya’u said the victims were evacuated from the accident scene and their corpses on their way to Misau where they would be handed over to their families for burial.
The school principal could not be reached at the time of this report, but another teacher, Mohammed Kaka, said it was a sad period for the school management.
“We lost three of our dedicated and intelligent teachers and the students who died were quite promising, it is a sad one,” he said.
Commissioner for Education, Nuhu Gidadi, who is also the Deputy Govrnor, could not equally be reached.
But the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Sabo Mohammed, described the development as heart breaking: “On behalf of the state government, and education stakeholders, I wish to express my sincere condolence to the Emir of Misau, Ahaji Ahmad Suliman, as well as parents and families of the deceased.
“As I am speaking to you, the governor is deeply sad by the development and he has detailed the Commissioner for Education and myself to pay a condolence visit to the emir and families of the deceased.
“May their gentle souls rest in peace and may God forgive them their sins and give them eternal rest.”
Details of the cause of the accidents were sketchy at the time of filing this report but our correspondent learnt that a mass burial was about taking place in Misau for the victims.