Five personnel of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) were among 19 travellers who lost their lives in an auto crash at Hawan Kibo in the Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State on Tuesday.
“The unfortunate incident occurred around Hawan Kibo along the Jos-Akwanga Express Road,” said NAF spokesman Olusola Akinboyewa in a statement.
“Our personnel were heading for a sporting event in Abuja when their vehicle was involved in a collision with an oncoming truck.
“Consequently, statutory administrative protocols applicable in circumstances as this have been activated by the NAF to provide comfort and succour to the bereaved families.”
Another account of the accident was given by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The Corps said the accident occurred as the 18-passenger Hiace bus travelling from Yola through Jos to Abuja ran into a stationary articulated vehicle on the highway leading to the death of the driver and all the 18 passengers.
A spokesperson for the FRSC in the state, Peter Longsan, told Channels Television on the phone that all passengers died in the tragic accident.
Longsan attributed the tragedy to high speed which led to the impact of the bus on the articulated vehicle, leaving no survivor.
He stated that the manifest recovered from the vehicle indicated that 18 passengers were on board alongside the driver of the ill-fated vehicle.
He said the remains of the victims have been deposited at a mortuary and FRSC personnel have cleared the wreckage of the vehicles from the highway.
