An 18 seater bus conveying passengers to Kano State plunged into the River Niger in Koton karfe, Kogi State, at about 7:30pm on Tuesday, killing four of its occupants.
The state Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Solomon Agure, confirmed the incident, saying the bus, with registration number Plateau – JJN 73 XA, took off from Ijora Seven Up under bridge in Lagos State and was heading to Kano.
Agure said four people, including a woman, died in the accident while seven others were critically injured.
The driver was said to have lost control of the vehicle after sleeping off. The FRSC Commander added that four corpses have already been recovered and 13 others were rescued alive while one person could not be accounted for.
Also confirming the incident, Suleiman Mafara, the State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, (NSCDC), revealed to newsmen in Lokoja that the command received a distress call, and immediately men of the Disaster and Crisis Unit in conjunction with the Federal Roads Safety Corps and volunteer divers were mobilized to the scene.
The NSCDC Commandant, however, cautioned drivers and commuters to stick strictly to road safety guidelines to prevent avoidable carnage on the highways.
