Nine Persons Die In Ghastly Auto Crash In Maiduguri

SAN FRANCISCO, February 12, - A ghastly motor accident along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road has claimed the lives of nine persons.

The auto crash, which occured Tuesday morning, injured 19 other passengers as two commercial buses crashed near Benesheikh, 72 kilometres west of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, after the tyre of one of the buses suddenly burst.

The Operations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Borno State Sector, Mr. Amos Thiza, who confirmed the accident, said: “The accident occurred at about 9am today (Tuesday) near Benishiekh on the Maiduguri-Damaturu road, where two commercial buses crashed, as a result of tyre burst."

According to him, "The Mafa Local Government bus with registration number, LG 09 MFA ran into the other bus marked XA 519 GUB resulting in the killing of nine passengers on the spot.”

He said out of the total passengers of 33 from the buses, nine were feared dead, while 19 passengers sustained various degrees of injuries at the scene of the accident.

Thiza also disclosed that out of the nine killed; three were children, adding that the 19 injured passengers had been taken to the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri by the FRSC rescue team for treatment.

He disclosed further that of the injured ones, 11 are male, five females and three children were admitted at the hospital for treatment of injuries and fractures they sustained in the crash.