At least 25 children on their way to a religious festival have been killed and dozens injured in a bus crash in northern Nigeria, a local official said Tuesday.
On Sunday, in Kaduna State, the driver of a bus carrying young Sufi Muslims of the Tijjaniyya order lost control of his vehicle before colliding with a truck, said Kabiru Nadabo, head of the Kaduna road safety agency.
“The bus was overloaded with 63 children and the driver was speeding when he lost control and hit an articulated lorry,” Mr Nadabo said.
“15 of them died on the spot, while 48 injured were taken to various hospitals. 10 of them died the next day, bringing the death toll to 25,” he added.
One of the organizers of the trip, Dikko Dahiru, spoke of a higher toll with 40 children killed and 31 seriously injured, out of a total of 71 passengers.
“36 passengers died instantly and four others died in hospital the next day,” said Mr Dahiru, whose nephew was among the dead.
“31 were taken to hospital with serious injuries, 11 of them in critical condition,” he said.
The children came from Kwandari village in central Plateau State and were travelling to the neighbouring town of Saminaka in northern Kaduna State for celebrations of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, known as ‘Mawlid Nabawi’.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu offered his “condolences to the families of the dead and injured, as well as to the governments of Kaduna and Plateau states,” in a statement released Tuesday.
He also ordered “the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to improve surveillance and reduce the number of road accidents across the country.”
Road accidents are common on poorly maintained roads in Nigeria, mainly due to speeding and disregard for traffic laws.
