Three National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members
posted to Katsina State on Sunday died in a fatal road accident.
The accident, which occurred in Gobirawa village of
Kankara Local Government Area of the state, also left 11 other corps members
with varying degrees of injuries.
The victims were said to have been on their way from
Katsina to attend a mass wedding at a Catholic Church in Funtua Local
Government Area of the state when the unfortunate incident happened.
This is coming barely 48 hours after a close
associate of the state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, and a staunch member of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Saleh Danja, died in the same
manner on Katsina-Dutsinma road.
The late corps members where among the 14 occupants
of a Toyota bus with registration number: MAN 45 AA which has the inscription ‘National
Association of Christians Catholic Corps Members’.
Confirming the incident to THISDAY in a telephone
interview, the state Public Relations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC),
Mr. Abdullahi Danladi Ibrahim, said the three corps members died on the spot.
He said: "Fourteen corps members were involved
in an accident this morning (Sunday). Three of them, including two males and
one female, died on the spot while 11 others sustained different degree of
injuries. Those injured were taken to Kankara General Hospital by our officers."
According to him, preliminary investigation by our
men revealed that the accident occurred as a result of over-speeding and loss
of control by the driver of the bus."
The state Governor, Masari, who was on his way to
Danja Local Government Area to attend the burial rites of Alhaji Saleh Danja, stopped at
the scene of the accident and offered humanitarian service.
Masari, who was visibly disturbed by the accident, directed the pilot vehicle to return the NYSC
members along with the two of the dead bodies to Katsina General Hospital.
One of the corps members, who survived the
accident, informed the governor that the accident occurred as a result of heavy
rains, which he said made the road slippery.
"It was raining, and the driver was trying to
apply brakes, but the bus swept away and hit a nearby tree," he added.
When contacted, the state Public Relations Officer
of NYSC, Mr. Obemeata Alex, said investigations were ongoing by the management
of the scheme in the state to ascertain the identities of the corps members who
died and those injured in the accident.
Meanwhile, the remains of the deceased and those
injured were later taken from Kankara General Hospital to the General Hospital
in Katsina, the state capital.
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