In Kano, a parent, Suleiman Yunusa, has told how two of his boys were crushed to death by a truck carrying sand as they were coming from school.
Daily Trust says that the children, Ahmad Suleiman, 10, and Mohammed Suleiman, six, were killed after the truck drove over the motorcycle delivering them along the Rimin Auzinawa-Yan Rake route in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State on Wednesday.
His five-year-old kid, Yunusa Suleiman, survived with fractures and other injuries. The motorbike rider, Ado Manya, also perished in the tragedy.
The pupils had gone to their studies at Modern International School, Rijiyar Zaki and were on their way back home.
After the incident, an irate mob burnt the truck on fire, with the driver managing to flee the scene.
Yunusa, speaking to our correspondent yesterday, said the death of two of his children at the same time had left him devastated.
“I am devastated and shocked to learn of the death of two of my children including Baba, the motorbike rider who used to pick them from school.
“All the three of them died on the spot while the third person who sustained fractures is now receiving treatment at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Dala, Kano.
“I leave everything to Allah but think of losing two sons at once. Very sad,” he said.
A father of four, Yunusa said he had taken the experience as a test from God. He stressed that there was little he could do other than submit to what God had planned.
He stated, however, that the circumstances surrounding the accident were especially traumatic because the children were on their way home from school.
He said the state of the Rimin-Auzinawa-Yan Rake route was responsible for many accidents in the area.
People still have concerns about the narrowness of the road, especially with the growing number of sand trucks and the quick growth of settlements along the route, he said.
Yunusa further expressed disappointment that the truck driver and officials of the truck operators did not visit the family promptly to condole with them.
“But the driver fled and none of the truck drivers or their chairman came here to condole with us,” he claimed.
He added members of his wife’s family had told him they would take the matter further but he would leave it to Allah and the necessary authorities.
The police have got the thing. If they want to prosecute them, I won’t say no to that, but I won’t do it on my own,” he said.
The five-year-old survivor was being treated for fractures and other injuries, he said.
He also has a two-year old kid who has not been enrolled in school, Yunusa said.
The loss of his two sons had left a profound gap in the family, he claimed.
How the accident happened
The tragedy happened about 7:05pm Wednesday in the Mangwaro Uku neighbourhood of Rimin Auzinawa.
The motorcycle carrying the three youngsters and the rider was trying to overtake a business tricycle but grazed it, residents said.
The motorbike and its passengers were said to have been thrown on the road and run over by a truck loaded with sand coming from Rimin Auzinawa to Yan Rake.
Reports said Ado Manya, Mohammed and Ahmad died at the site.
Yunusa, who is five years old, was taken to Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital for treatment after suffering fractures and other injuries.
A large throng gathered quickly and homeowners allegedly lit the truck on fire.
The truck driver, Usman Haruna of Bachirawa, was also attacked by the mob before being rescued by security forces.
The commercial tricycle rider apparently escaped the area with his tricycle.
Firefighters were later called in to extinguish the fire as security personnel dispersed the throng and brought the situation under control.
Safety worries voiced by residents
The incident has again raised worries among inhabitants of Rimin Auzinawa and neighbouring settlements about the safety of the road, especially the transit of trucks loaded with sand.
“I was shocked to see the bodies of the victims at the scene,” said Bilal Freedom, a local resident.
“The death of the schoolchildren was especially painful,” he said, calling the accident another reminder of the hazards presented by big vehicles on the highway.
h“When I saw the dead bodies of the victims, including school pupils, I was devastated. It was a horrific tragedy. “I was really sad to see those lives lost that way,” he said.
“It was not the first fatal accident involving trucks carrying sand in the area,” Bilal said.
He remembered a couple on a motorbike and were hit by a truck last year and the wife was killed.
Sand trucks coming in with materials from the Watari area are often seen passing through Mangwaro Uku on their route to Yan Rake, he said.
“The road is bad and it is the only access to the site at Watari, so most of the drivers lack the patience to carefully pass through, and therefore everyone is trying to find his way.
“They either hit a moving vehicle or pass pedestrians in the process,” he said.
Bilal called to the Kano State Government to establish an alternative route for vehicles going to the Watari area.
NARTO: Driver not reckless
The burnt vehicle has been moved to the Motor Traffic Division (MTD) in Kano, while the driver is still in police custody,” said Murtala Dahiru, chairman of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) at the Yar Rake branch.
Dahiru stated that the union representatives, including the owner of the truck, were mobilising to visit the relatives of the victims to condole with them.
He claimed the union could not go to meet the families immediately due to tension after the accident.
He said the harsh reaction of the residents who destroyed the truck made it difficult for the union’s representatives to approach the affected families promptly.
The NARTO chairman also appealed to the government to intervene in the area of the friction that often arises between residents and truck operators whenever accidents occur.
The union often warned its drivers about dangerous driving, he added.
But he questioned the assertion that the truck driver was irresponsible in the recent incident saying the commercial trike rider caused the crash.
He also called on the Kano State Government to widen the route, saying the road has become small and a source of concern to the residents of the area which has witnessed a rapid increase in population.
FRSC blames it on carelessness
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) spokesman in Kano, Abdullahi Labaran, said the collision was caused by a commercial tricycle driver who was trying to do a U-turn on the road recklessly.
Labaran also bemoaned the rising recklessness of commercial tricycle riders in Kano.
Such riders had become a public nuisance on the highways, he added. The leadership was worried about the increasing frequency of accidents involving tricycles, he said.
He said another collision involving a commercial tricycle was reported along the Hadejia road on the same day.
He said the development had made the command to strengthen efforts for a sensitisation campaign for commercial tricycle riders across the state.
The police spokesman, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, stated that inquiry into the incident was ongoing.
Spokesman of Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi could not be reached at the time of publishing this report when contacted on the development.
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