At least seven people were killed while five others sustained injuries in an accident involving a truck trailer at Madalla junction in Suleja, Niger state.

The accident happened around 11:30am on Friday.

Some eye witnesses who spoke to Daily Trust disclosed that the truck, which was coming from the Zuba axis of Abuja, rammed into about 4 vehicles, stopping at the junction where the driver directed the vehicle towards a road barrier.

A resident, Saleh Haruna, said before the accident, a driver of a commercial bus hit a commercial golf car.

He said, “The two drivers of the affected cars engaged in an argument, with the hummer bus driver offering to pay N2000, 000 to the owner of the gulf car to replace the screen, who, however, insisted on N400,0000 compensation.

“Following the second accident, the trailer ran over the hummer bus, and also hit the golf car partially, before the trailer caught fire, burning the bus,” Haruna, said.

He further stated that about 4 passengers of the bus were burnt beyond recognision before the rescuers pulled out their bodies from the bus, while about seven survivors from the spot of the accident were rushed to the Lukas Hospital In Madalla, including the driver of the trailer.

When our reporter visited the hospital on Saturday, Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Ugwoegbu Valentine, confirmed that 3 of the injured persons have also died, with one other still in critical condition.

The driver of the trailer, who gave his name as Sulaiman Rabiu, was later spotted at the Police Division in Madalla, where he was kept in custody.

Speaking to our reporter, Rabiu said he left Warri in Delta state on Tuesday, where he loaded bags of livestock feeds made from wheat, for transporting to Kano state.

“I arrived Zuba town safely some minutes after 11am on Friday. However, as I was descending down toward Madalla town, I lost my brake which led to this accident,” he stated.

The driver was later taken back to the hospital by one of the policemen on duty, before our reporter left the division, on Saturday.

Daily Trust reports that many accidents were recorded around the Madalla and nearby Zuba towns since the commencement of the road construction of the Abuja-Kaduna highway in the axis, which started early this year.

A new construction company that took over the project, which previously was handled by the Julius Berger, was blamed for negligence in providing adequate road cautioning signs, and regulations, as well as failing to provide road shoulder that could help motorists to park properly.

The Divisional Police Officer DPO of Madalla division was absent when our reporter visited, but a senior police officer in the division had confirmed the incident, as well as the number of the casualties. (Weekend Trust)