Seventeen persons died and three others were injured in an auto crash in Yaura village, on Wudil-Bauchi Road, in Albasu Local Government Area.

The Kano State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Ibrahim Sallau Abdullahi, confirmed the incident in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Labaran, on Thursday in Kano.

He said that the accident involved a Honda Accord with registration number NSR 81 VW and a Volkswagen Sharon (bus) with registration number NNG 275 XA.

According to the statement, the accident, in which one person escaped unhurt, occurred on Wednesday afternoon.

“Motorists passing by informed our patrol operatives at about 14.20p.m. Upon receiving the information, we quickly dispatched our personnel and vehicle to the scene of the incident to rescue the victims at 14.25p.m,” Abdullahi said.

The sector commander said that the crash occurred as a result of excessive speed, wrongful overtaking which led to a loss of control, and a head-on collision, with one of the vehicles bursting into the fire immediately.

“The crash involved a total of 21 passengers in the two vehicles, out of which 11 adult males, five adult females and one male child lost their lives while three others sustained serious injuries — one adult male, one adult female and one male child,” he said.

Abdullahi said the injured were taken to Wudil General Hospital for treatment, while the corpses of the deceased were handed over to relatives of the victims.

He advised motorists to obey traffic rules and regulations, to avoid needless deaths and injuries on our roads.

The sector commander commiserated with the families of the victims and prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed.

A commercial motorcyclist and his passenger, on Wednesday, were killed, after colliding with a truck, at Bible College area on Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in Ogun, Mr. Ahmed Umar, confirmed the accident to newsmen on Wednesday in Ota, Ogun.

Umar said that the accident, which happened at about 9.10 a.m., involved four people, a vehicle and a Bajaj motorcycle.

He said that the motorcycle, with no registration number, drove against traffic and collided with a Daf truck, marked: KTG 941 YG, leading to the death of the Okada rider and the passenger, while two others were unhurt.

“The corpses of the dead had been deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Ifo,” he said.

The sector commander blamed the accident on excessive speeding and route violation.

He advised motorists and okada riders to desist from excessive speeding to avoid unnecessary loss of life.

Umar also cautioned them to refrain from driving against traffic to prevent mishaps on the highway. 

 No fewer than 10 passengers were burnt to death on Oyo-Ogbomoso road on Thursday, just as five persons were burnt beyond recognition in a fatal accident on the Badagry-Seme Expressway in Lagos on Thursday.

The passengers, involved in a head-on collision involving a Mazda and a Toyota Hiace passenger buses, were burnt beyond recognition.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed the incident on Thursday in Ibadan.

The FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Joshua Adekanye, said the incident occurred at about 5.30 a.m. around Kilometres 12 Ijawaya on Oyo-Ogbomoso road.

He said that the buses with registration numbers LEM 963 XA and NSR 222 ZS were coming from Lagos and Nasarawa states respectively.

Adekanye said that the vehicles went on flame immediately resulting in the burning of the occupants.

He attributed the cause of the accident to speeding and overloading.

He called on motorists to always shun night travelling, speeding and overloading, adding that the fatality would have been reduced if the drivers were not on night journeys.

In another development, five persons were burnt beyond recognition while three others sustained injuries in a fatal accident on the Badagry-Seme Expressway in Lagos, also on Thursday.

*The remains of the Honda Pilot Jeep involved in a fatal accident on Badagry-Seme Expressway on Thursday.

Mr Sulaiman Taiwo, Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at Badagry, confirmed the accident.

He told newsmen that the accident occurred at Akoro Village, on the Badagry-Sème Expressway.

The accident involved a Honda Pilot SUV with registration number LSR 772 HE and motorcycle with an unidentifiable registration number.

Taiwo said the driver of the Honda Pilot must have been over-speeding and lost control before hitting the motorcycle laden with petrol.

“The driver of the jeep collided with the motorcycle resulting in an explosion.

“By the time we got to the scene, the raging fire had burnt three persons beyond recognition, while two others lost their lives during the rescue operation.

“Three persons that survived the inferno were taken to the General Hospital in Badagry while the five corpses were deposited at the mortuary in the same hospital,’’ he said.

Taiwo added that the prompt response by personnel of the Customs Service, Fire Brigade, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the police have restored normalcy to the area.

 Speaking later with our correspondent, the Medical Director, General Hospital, Badagry, Dr Olatunde Bakare, said some relations of the dead had reported claiming the bodies, while the three survivors were receiving treatment at the Emergency Unit of the hospital.

He urged motorists and other road users to stop carrying petrol inside jerry cans in their vehicles as the rate at which the hospital was treating victims of fire incidents was alarming.