18th May, 2012
Fifteen persons on Thursday lost their lives while 6 others were injured when a commercial bus collided with a car on Maiduguri-Damaturu road.
Eyewitnesses told newsmen in Maiduguri that the accident involved a mass transit bus owned by the state government’s transport company, the ‘Borno Express’ and a Volkswagen Golf saloon car.
One of the eye witnesses, Mr Simon Mamza, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident occurred around 2.35 pm in Jakana village, about 35 kilometres from Maiduguri.
He said the crash was caused by wrong overtaking.
“The whole thing happened at a bend near the Jakana village, as one of the vehicles ran into the other’s lane.
“Within a twinkling of an eye, the vehicles collided killing about 15 passengers in the bus and injuring about six others,” Mamza said.
He said that most of the victims died before the arrival of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) rescue team.
A senior FRSC official, Mr Amos Thizha, confirmed the story.
“I heard about the accident but I do not have the details yet. Our rescue team has already evacuated the injured victims to the hospital for treatment.”
He said some of the dead victims had been buried at the Gwange cemetery in the metropolis, while other bodies were deposited at the Specialist Hospital morgue.