11 killed, 23 injured in Kogi accident

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of 11 people in a motor accident on the Auchi-Okene Highway in Kogi State.
The Sector Commander of the FRSC in Kogi, Mr Olusegun Martins, told reporters in Lokoja on Tuesday that the accident occurred at a sharp bend on the road on the evening of October 23.
He said that 23 other people sustained various degrees of injuries in the accident, involving a total of 34 people.
Martins said that six of the victims died on the spot, while five others died in hospitals.
He said that two vehicles, a trailer loaded with cows, foodstuffs and passengers and a Toyota Corolla car were involved in the incident.
The sector commander gave the registration number of the trailer as Katsina XF 914 KTN, and the number of the Toyota car as Abuja BWR 756 BJ.
The two vehicles were coming from Lokoja.
He said that all the dead victims were from the trailer coming from Abuja, while the driver of the car and its other occupants escaped unhurt.
Martins said that the accident occurred when the trailer hit the car from behind before losing control and crashing into a nearby bush.
The sector commander blamed the accident on spend but promised that full investigation would be carried out on the incident  in due course.
He said that the corpses of the victims were taken to the morgue at the General Hospital, Okene, while the injured were taken to TAO Hospital and God’s Mercy Hospital in Okene as well as the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja.