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At least 20 dead in Nigeria truck crashes

Authorities in Nigeria say 20 people including children have died in two separate road crashes involving trucks over the weekend.

January 30, 2023
By Chinedu Asadu
30 January 2023

Two separate road crashes involving trucks in southern Nigeria left 20 people dead including children, with many of the victims burned beyond recognition.

In Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos, a truck carrying a heavy container landed on a commercial bus on a busy bridge in the Ojuelegba area of the city, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu with the state emergency response agency said in a statement on Sunday.

“Further investigations revealed that the bus was picking up passengers when the truck lost control and fell over the side of the bridge,” he said.

Only one woman survived while nine passengers including two children died in the crash, he added.

Residents quickly gathered at the scene minutes after the truck fell on the bus but none of the passengers could be pulled out under the weight of the 20-foot container until officials arrived with rescue tools about one hour later.

Earlier on Sunday, another truck collided with a bus in Odigbo council area of Ondo state near Lagos, killing all the passengers on board, Nigeria’s road safety agency. said.

“Eleven people were burnt beyond recognition,” in the early morning crash blamed on reckless driving, according to Richard Adetoro with the road safety agency. “Being a fire incident, people could not rush to the scene until the firefighters came.”

Road crashes are common in many parts of Nigeria where roads are in poor conditions and traffic regulations are usually not adhered to.

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