At least 43 people were killed when a critically overloaded Nigerian truck carrying passengers and building materials plunged off the road and flipped over, rescue officials said on Wednesday.
”It was overloaded and speeding when it swerved off the road and ended up in a ditch. Forty-one men and two women were killed. Eighteen others suffered serious wounds,” said Oheri Osondu, a senior officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission.
The accident happened at about 10pm local time on Tuesday in Gombe state in northeastern Nigeria as the truck was travelling north towards Potiskum in neighbouring Yobe state, he said.
Road safety officials took the dead and injured to Potiskum General hospital, he said.
Serious accidents are relatively common in Nigeria, where bad roads combine with overloading, poorly maintained vehicles and occasional bandit attacks to make cross-country travel a dangerous proposition. — Sapa-AFP