13 students perish in crash

Written by Duncan Monday, 19 October 2009

Thirteen teenage students between the ages of 15 and 19 were burnt to death on Saturday night when two speeding cars in which they were travelling collided and rammed into a pedestrian bridge at Gyadi-Gyadi on the Zaria Road in Kano metropolis. Only one of the occupants of the cars survived the crash with first degree burns when the two vehicles burst into flames immediately after the collision.

Daily Trust gathered that the students, seven in each car, were returning from a wedding party of one of their relations, Abdullahi, at the Tourist Camp when one of their vehicles hit a pedestrian who was trying to cross the road.

Malam Danladi Sule, who witnessed the accident, said one of the cars, a Toyota Carina, swerved and slowed down in order to avoid hitting the pedestrian, but the other car, a Honda Civic, rammed into it and there was an instant explosion. The pedestrian himself sustained serious injuries and died at the hospital in the early hours of yesterday.

According to a family member of two of the deceased students who pleaded anonymity, two of the boys, Abba and Aminu had just sat for their Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), while the others were in secondary school, remedial studies and first year undergraduate students.

The officer in charge of operations at the Kano State Fire Service, Kassim Musa, said they were alerted at 11:53 pm on Saturday night and they arrived the scene of the accident around 11:56pm. He said seven people had already died at the spot while eight others were rescued and taken to the hospital, where most of them died.

The Kano Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ahmad Hassan confirmed the incident, saying the two overloaded vehicles were over-speeding. “The vehicles were overloaded with passengers and the sudden explosion was caused by the presence of a petrol sale point near the scene of the accident,” he said.

The Sector Commander also said all the occupants were teenagers. “Both the drivers and the passengers are boys. And you know people of that age group are thrilled by over-speeding,” he said. While condoling with the families of the deceased, the corps commander cautioned parents to desist from allowing their underage children to drive vehicles.

Kano State Deputy Commissioner of Police Tanko Lawan also confirmed the incident, saying the vehicles had earlier been stopped by the police close to the accident scene, but that the young boys zoomed off at high speed. “I was at the scene of the accident immediately after the crash. The police stopped them but they refused to stop. It was a case of excessive speeding,” the DCP said.

Daily Trust also learnt that hours before last Saturday’s incident, residents of Court Road in Kano metropolis had to erect temporary ramps in the area to try to stop over-speeding motorcades of teenage drivers who were having a party at the Social Welfare hall. While calling on government to relocate the party hall out of the area, a resident, Salisu Magaji Gombe, said the hall’s presence in their neighbourhood posed a threat to their lives as young people drive recklessly while holding parties.

While paying a condolence visit to the families of the deceased yesterday, Kano State deputy governor Engineer Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased and for the families to have the fortitude to bear the losses.

The funeral prayer for some of the deceased boys took place at Tahir Mosque in Gyadi-Gyadi and their charred remains were buried at Tarauni Cemetery in Kano metropolis. Hundreds of people attended the funeral prayers.