It was a harvest of death on the roads yesterday, with at least 71 persons reported dead in Yobe, Oyo and Delta states. The worst case was reported in Yobe State, where the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) confirmed that two separate auto crashes claimed 55 lives in Gashua and Damagum towns of the state.

The Public Relation Officer of the Commission, Yusuf Sani, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Damaturu, the state capital, said that one of the accidents occurred along Gashua-Garin Alkali road killing 20 people in the process.

Those killed in the auto crash, he revealed, include 16 women and four men who were returning from a local Sunday market from Garin Alkali close to Gashua in Bade Local Government Area.

The second accident, according to him, occurred Monday morning. It involved three cars along Damaturu-Potiskum road killing 35 passengers with only seven survivors.

On the cause of the accident, the Public Relations Officer said that it was as a result of “over-speeding and dangerous overtaking.”

The Spokesman informed that those who sustained injuries were taken to Damagum General Hospital, same place the corpses of the dead have been deposited.

In Oyo, 10 people were burnt to death in a road accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway while four people were injured.

FRSC Commander, Oluyole Unit, Sanya Adeoye, said the accident involved three vehicles – two trucks and one 18-seater Toyota Hiace commercial bus numbered BDG 767 XB. He said a truck, marked SW 175 EPE, which was coming out of the NSCE Quarry ran into another truck.

Adeoye said another truck coming from Lagos ran into the commercial bus and smashed it into the two trucks. He said the bus went up in flames and the fire spread to the trucks.

Those injured were occupants of one of the trucks. They were taken to the University College Hospital (UCH). The bodies were deposited at the mortuary of the Adeoyo State Hospital.

Efforts were made by the FRSC Unit Commander to reach the victims’ families through the bus’ manifest, which was not burnt.

Meanwhile, in Delta State, no fewer than six persons lost their lives and several others seriously injured in a ghastly motor accident that occurred yesterday morning in Warri. The occupants of the car, who were mainly youths, it was suspected, were coming from a night outing when the incident happened.

It was also gathered that the vehicle was coming from the Okuokoko axis, approaching the popular Delta Steel Company (DSC) Road, when the driver suddenly made a U-turn to go to the other side of the road an action that led an on-coming vehicle crashed into the car. In the process, the car broke into two due to the intensity of the impact of the crash.

Consequently, there was a gridlock on the road as rescuers had to use axes and iron rods on the accidented car to remove the mangled bodies of the occupants.

Besides, several vehicles were destroyed in the process by an angry mob which also capitalised on the confusion to rob people at gunpoint.

However, efforts were made by sympathisers to rush the victims to a nearby hospital while some had already died before the rescue operation began.

In a related development, four persons died in another auto crash along the ever-busy NPA Expressway on Sunday afternoon.

Sources said the victims, three female and a male, were returning from a church service when the incident happened. It was gathered that the female driver was avoiding an on-coming trailer, which was on high speed and suddenly hit a thick rail, making the car to go up in flame instantly.

•Pieced together from stories in Channels, The Nation and Daily Sun.

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