THREE persons were burnt to death on Monday night in an accident that involved a fully loaded diesel tanker.
The incident occurred around 8:00 pm in the Kogi axis of the Lokoja–Abuja highway.
The tanker was descending the sloppy section of the road when it experienced brake failure which resulted in the vehicle ramming into another truck, a Dyna pick-up van.
While addressing the newsmen on Tuesday in Lokoja, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Stephen Dawulung, confirmed that three persons were burnt to death while two other victims were rescued with burns and taken to the hospital for treatment.
“The crash resulted from dangerous driving by the driver who suddenly lost control. The tanker was totally burnt. The Dyna pick-up van that was parked by the roadside and two other vehicles were also affected by the fire.
“Traffic was at a standstill due to the magnitude of the fire until after subsidence of the fire when the operatives of the FRSC conducted traffic control to clear the hold up that had built up, ” he said.
He however advised truck drivers, especially those carrying flammable substances, to always be cautious and drive within the regulated speed limit.
The ICIR gathered that as of Tuesday morning the remains of the three persons killed in the incident were still on the road before they were evacuated and deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Lokoja.
Passengers who sustained injuries were taken to the hospital
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M