No fewer than 11 people have been killed in Nasarawa state after a lorry driver rammed into them by the roadside.
The accident occurred on Thursday, June 25, in Gora Vilage, located along the Abuja-Keffi Expressway.
According to an eyewitness account, the driver was transporting sand and heading towards Keffi Town but upon hearing armed robbers had barricaded the road ahead of him, he tried to quickly make a U-turn when he crushed the victims.
“He turned back and was driving against traffic, the area was on a slope and it appeared the Tipper’s break failed and he lost control and rammed into the large gathering of people by the roadside,” the witness said, identified as Bashir Isa, told Premium Times.
He said it is a custom that villagers gather by the roadside in the evenings, with some selling their wares and some just casually chatting.
“We have seen a lot of accidents in this village, but that of Thursday is very unfortunate. Most of the victims remains were not gathered in their complete form as they lost various limbs after the lorry crushed them,” he said.
According to him, the lorry driver disappeared into the thin air after the accident, abandoning the truck.