The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Edo State, Cyril Matthew, has confirmed that twelve people lost their lives in a fatal auto crash attributed to driver fatigue.
Speaking in Benin on Sunday, Matthew explained that the accident occurred around 5 a.m. on Saturday at the Igueoviobo community, near an army checkpoint along the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi Expressway. The crash involved a Toyota Hiace bus and a truck.
He said: “The bus departed Zuba in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and headed for Benin City, but collided with an oncoming truck en route Auchi, around 5 a.m.
“All the occupants of the bus were killed in the auto crash, which might have been caused by fatigue, with the driver likely to have dozed off, leading to the collision, and the bus was engulfed in flames, making it impossible to save the victims.
“The truck’s driver and his assistant, fondly called ‘Motor Boy,’ escaped unhurt.
“Officials of FRSC were able to identify the bodies through the vehicle’s manifest. We have since contacted their families.”
The sector commander of FRSC in Edo also admonished drivers to avoid fatigue, especially while on long journeys, while urging them to stop and rest after driving for four hours and when they felt tired, to avoid unnecessary and preventable loss of lives of mostly innocent persons.
