17 die as bus plunges into Kaduna river

Tragedy struck, Tuesday night, on the Kaduna-Abuja Road when an 18-seater bus plunged into River Rijana. At press time, only three bodies had been recovered from the river. However, one of the passengers survived. It was gathered that the passengers in the bus were relatives who had gone to celebrate the Eid el-Kabir in Kano State. They were returning to their Lokoja station, Kogi State, when the bus plunged into the river at 11p.m. Confirming the incident yesterday, the Kaduna Sector’s Head of Operations of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Mr. Salisus Galadunci, said: “An 18-seater bus travelling to Lokoja from Kano plunged into River Rijana with about 18 persons, all related, returning from Sallah break. “The incident was reported by the only survivor, a woman who managed to report to an FRSC ambulance stationed at Doka unit, along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, around 7a.m. yesterday. “Rescuers from FRSC Doka, Katari and Kakau were immediately dispatched with ambulances. They were supported by local divers to search for survivors. “Eventually, only three bodies were recovered, while the remaining persons could not be found, including the survivor’s daughter. “Among the FRSC rescue team were the Zone 1 Commander, Bulus Darwang; Kaduan State Sector Commander, Francis Udoma, and Zone 1 Head of Operations, Yomi Asaniyan,” adding that efforts were still on to recover bodies of the missing passengers. The incident, as explained by the survivor, was caused by speeding as well as fatigue. Galadunci informed that the recovered bodies had been buried by the river side, by villagers in the area.