ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
No fewer than two corpses have been recovered following a lone fatal crash when a car plunged into a river Saturday morning, along Bauchi-Jos highway.
The incident was said to have happened in the outskirts of Tilden Fulani, in Toro local Government Area of Bauchi State, about 125 kilometers away from Bauchi, the state capital.
According to sources, seven passengers were traveling to a yet-to-be-known destination in a green Opel Vectra with number plate: JNN 348 NC, when the incident happened.
The driver of the vehicle was said to have lost control and plunged into a river which was filled with water following a recent downpour.
An eyewitness who refused to give his name said that only two corpses were recovered from the river while the whereabouts of the remaining five passengers could not yet be ascertained, suspecting they might have drowned.
He said that the car wreckage was removed from the river with the assistance of the community members and passersby who stopped to render help.
The eyewitness said that they could not ascertain the identity of the driver, passengers and where they were traveling to when the incident happened.
When contacted, The Commander, Federal Road Safety Corp, Bauchi State Sector Command, Yusuf Abdullahi, confirmed the incident to our correspondent in a phone conversation.
He, however, said he could not give further details of the crash “because it was the police that did the rescue operation when the incident happened.”
Confirming the incident, the Bauchi State Police Command through its Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, said two corpses were recovered from the river.
He gave the identity of one of the two recovered bodies as Ibrahim Rabi’u (41), a resident of Miya Barkate village in Toro LGA of Bauchi state, noting that the identity of the other corpse was yet to be identified.
Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, said that the victims were taken to the Toro General Hospital where they were certified dead by a medical doctor.
He said that the corpses were handed over to their relatives for burial.
“During the search, we discovered that the Vectra was carrying seven passengers. Search operation is still ongoing to recover the remaining five passengers who were on board the car,” he said.
The police spokesman said that in the course of the search, a wallet was found containing a permanent voters’ card belonging to one Muhammad Alhassan of Zarmaganda, Jos, Plateau State.