26 killed in Zamfara road mishap

A road mishap at Kucheri village along Gusau-Funtua road in Zamfara State claimed 26 lives yesterday, Daily Trust gathered.
The lorry which was fully loaded with bags of onions and beans took off from Sokoto at midnight and was said to be heading to Akure, the Ondo State capital when it crashed.
The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Zamfara, Mr. Amos Yakubu Thliza told Daily Trust that the lorry was carrying 45 passengers who were sitting on top of the bags of the onions.
“The lorry left Sokoto midnight and they were heading to Akure, but on reaching Kotorkoshi town of Zamfara State, the driver complained of being sleepy and he asked his mate to take over but when they arrived at Kucheri village, some kilometres before Funtua town in neighbouring Katsina State, the driver’s mate also started dozing,” he said.
“The lorry suddenly swerved and veered off the road and all those passengers sitting on top of the goods were catapulted into a ditch beside the road and the heavy bags of onions and beans fell and buried them inside the ditch and 26 of them died on the spot while 17 were badly injured,” Thliza explained.
He said the driver and his mate survived the accident as they escaped unhurt, but they were arrested by officials of the FRSC.
Meanwhile, the corpses were deposited at a hospital in Tsafe local government area of the state and the relatives of the dead had started trooping to the facility to identify the bodies.