From: Linus Oota, Lafia
No fewer than four persons were burnt to death in a tragic accident involving a fire-fighting truck and a J5 commercial bus along Jos road, opposite PDP state secretariat, in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
It was gathered that several other people were injured in the accident.
The accident which took place, on Tuesday night, at about 8:24p.m was alleged to have been caused by a break failure from the fire fighting vehicle.
Those said to be involve in the gory accident are suspected to be traders who were returning from a village market into Lafia.
According to eyewitness account, it was gathered that the accident resulted from the fire service vehicle alleged to have lost control and run into the J5 bus which was on its lane.
One Salisu Abubakar, who witnessed the accident, said he was 300 meters away from the scene, adding that it was difficult for people to rescue the victims.
He said that they had to use axes to force open the doors of the J5 already in flames. He maintained that the rescue efforts only succeeded in pulling out two persons who were already burnt to death while others were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
When contacted, Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mrs. Fustina Alegbe, said the accident was not formally reported to the commission as she got wind of the news like any other person in town.
She, however, said that her agency was on top of the situation, saying she already detailed her personnel to investigate the cause of the accident.
However, the Nasarawa State Police command spokesman, DSP Kennedy Idirisu, confirmed the accident.