Published:
The driver ran away after the accident.
A heavy duty truck on Saturday morning crushed 14 teenagers to death in Barkinladi Local Government Area of Plateau State. Nine others sustained various injuries in the accident.
The vehicle rammed into the teenagers as they stood by the roadside. Most of the victims are said to be between 12 and 16-years-old.
The accident occurred along Tudun Maza, few kilometres from the headquarters of Barkinladi Local Government Area.
The driver and another passenger in the truck absconded after the accident, residents said.
“They (driver and passenger)jumped out of the vehicle, and ran away into the bush to avoid being lynched by relatives of the victim’s and people within the scene of the incident,” a witness said.
The Plateau State Police Public Relations Officer, Felicia Anslem, confirmed the accident to PREMIUM TIMES.
She said the police has commenced investigations.
“We are making frantic efforts to track down the driver of the vehicle,” she said.
A resident around the accident scene described the scene as “gory,” while another witness told reporters that the victims were members of the Boys and Girls Brigade from three different church denominations in the area. The witness named the churches as Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Assemblies of God Church and Baptist Church.
Relatives of victims attempted to set the truck ablaze but were prevented by security agents who arrived early at the scene of the accident to maintain law and order.
The incident created heavy traffic along the highway leading to Central and Southern Plateau State, while business activities in the area were paralysed for close to four hours as motorists plying the route stopped to catch a glimpse of the children whose bodies were laid beside the road before they were taken to the mortuary.
The injured were taken to Plateau State Specialist Hospital in Jos, for medical attention.
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