Trailers’ head collision, 3 fears dead in Kogi,
A trailer loaded with big marble stones on Monday ran into another trailer carrying crates of multina at Army Signal along Lokoja-Okene-Kabba road, Lokoja.
The accident occurred around 7:30am very close to the office of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence corps (NSCDC), Kogi State Command, Lokoja.
Officials of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and NSCDC, policemen in the state, arrived at the scene on time to rescue the victims.
It took the combined efforts of the personnel of FRSC, NSCDC, police and good samaritans to rescue the driver and two occupants who were trapped in the marble ladden trailer for about three hours.
The Sector Commander, FRSC, Kogi State, CC Solomon Agure, advised the state government to restrict movement of trailers, trucks and other heavy duty vehicles inside the town from 6am to 7pm.
According to Agure, the trailer that carried multina was going, the one that is carrying stones was on the slope and could not match break.
”The break failed and the trailer ran into the back of the other truck carrying the multina.
”Assuming it is light vehicles like buses that are carrying children to school or people to their various destinations in this country, what would have happened?
”We would have been recording so many casualties now. So, I will urge the state government to adopt my earlier proposal by restricting movement of heavy duty vehicles within Lokoja town from the hour of 6am in the morning to 7pm in the evening,” he said
The sector commander further urged commuters and motorists to be very careful when they are in front or overtaking heavy duty vehicles.
”Don’t overtake a trailer or heavy duty vehicles and be slowing down immediately infront of it. This incident here today is a lesson to all of us,” Agure said.
He further urged the state government through the ministry of environment to ensure that the warehouse was relocated to outside the town to forestall the re-occurrence of such incident.
The NSCDC Commandant, Kogi State Command, Suleiman Mafara, told said the accident occurred around 8am near the NSCDC office.
”The accident happened around 8am near our office here, a trailer loaded with multina and another one behind it loaded with mighty stones.
”Going by the nature of the road which is slopy, the multina trailer in the front was trying to enter their warehouse and I think the trailer carrying the heavy stones match break but it failed and ran into the multina trailer at the back.
”The driver and two occupants were trapped inside the trailer, and since around 8 o clock we have began rescue operations. We have just rescued one out of the three occupants, the two are still trapped.
”I, and the Sector Commander of FRSC, went to the office of the TEC Engineering company to get a bigger crane for the rescue operations, but their manger is not around,” Mafara said.
