TWELVE people died in a fire resulting from a road accident along the Ilorin-Ogbomoso Road, Kwara State, on Saturday morning.
Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps in the state Jonathan Owoade confirmed this while speaking to journalists.
He said the accident occurred at about 6.20 AM involving two vehicles without registration numbers, blaming it on route and speed limit violation.
“It was a fatal crash which happened at about 6.20 AM. Eighteen persons were involved, six sustained various degrees of burns and, sadly, 12 lost their lives and were burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
Owoade noted that the injured victims and the corpses had been taken to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
He urged motorists to adhere to traffic rules, and commiserated with the families of the deceased.
“We plead with commercial drivers including articulated vehicle drivers to avoid over speeding.
“We commiserate with the families of those who lost their lives and wish the injured quick recovery,” he said.
Deaths from road accidents in Nigeria have continued to increase over the past three years.
The ICIR reported that there were 6,205 deaths resulting from road crashes in 2021.
Kwara has been among the top ten states with the highest number of lives lost to auto crashes. It recorded 246 deaths from road accidents, according to the report.
Barely a month ago, a pregnant woman had been burnt to death in a fire from an accident which claimed eight other lives.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.