Ten dead, many injured, 18 vehicles burnt in Abuja truck fire
It was a sad way to end a busy day for some residents around the Karu Bridge on Abuja-Keffi Expressway of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday.
A CNG-powered truck conveying cement lost control on the bridge between Kugbo and Nyanya and burst into flames. Lives were lost and properties destroyed.
Officials of the Federal Capital City Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) yesterday put the death toll at 10 and the number of vehicles burnt at 18.
They said that the injured persons were rushed to the National Hospital, Karu General Hospital and State House Hospital.
Some of them with first degree burns were too weak to narrate their ordeals when The Nation reporter visited the hospital wards yesterday.
But a witness and Karu resident, Stephen Ogidi, said there should be an alternative route to Abuja-Keffi Expressway to ease the burden of travellers on the route whenever there is carnage on the bridge.
Ogidi said it was like a film when the trailer lost control. He narrated how the people ran in different directions for safety.
He said: “I pity some of us living in this axis; sometimes, we wonder if we don’t pay taxes. The Nasarawa State government is doing nothing about creating alternative routes to link it to the FCT borders despite the high revenue being generated in taxes.