Lorry Accident kills Six In Jos

By CHAMBERLAIN ODEY, JOS – At least six persons died, and 10 others sustained injuries when a lorry driver lost control and rammed into vehicles and commercial tricycles with passengers on board in Farin Gada area of Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The incident occurred Thursday at about 7:00 pm when the driver of a MAN DIESEL lorry conveying maize from Saminaka in Kaduna State to Onitsha in Anambra State suddenly lost control as a result of breaks failure, and rammed into waiting vehicles and tricycles in the busy business area, causing confusion and stampede.
Eye witness said while the driver was struggling to control the
vehicle, it rammed into three tricycles loaded with passengers and three other cars parked along the same road and crushed them inevitably, and that six persons died on the spot, while 10 others sustained various degrees of injuries.
It was also gathered that it took men of the Special Task Force and other Samaritans who dashed to the scene of the incident several hours before the bodies of those trapped under the lorry could be retrieved.
An eye witness further told our reporter that three passengers died in the tricycles, while another three also gave up the ghost in a car believed to have been occupied by a driver, his betrothal, and one other passenger.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer, Plateau State Command, DSP M. T. Tyopev confirmed that three people died in the accident, and that the driver of the lorry, Fatai Onaolapo has been arrested and presently helping the police to unravel the cause of the accident.
According to him, the preliminary investigations revealed that the driver who was actually coming from Saminaka in Kaduna State was heading to Onitsha with a lorry load of maize, while those at the scene attributed the accident to over speeding.
He said those who sustained injuries are presently receiving treatment at Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos.