A truck laden with rice has rammed into roadby shops killing two persons at Mararaban Liman Katagum in Bauchi State.
The accident occurred after the driver of the truck with registration number NSR-08-YN lost control following brake failure on Thursday 25 November 2021.
One Sa’adatu Yahaya and her 18-year-old daughter perished in the process.
WikkiTimes gathered that the accident left five shops and four parked cars burnt into ashes.
Shuaib Adamu, an eyewitness, told our reporter that the apprentices of the truck were shouting through the window, “no brake! no brake!” but the traders who assembled to effect transactions could not hear them to avert what turns out to be a tragic market day for them.
“There were a lot of people on the road. The truck then hit two cars parked by the roadside and exploded with fire. The nearby shops gutted with fire immediately,” he said.
Haruna Mohammed, a fish seller, decried that the location of the market too close to the road makes it vulnerable to road associated fatalities.
He said that a lot of traders failed to secure shops within the vicinity of the market, hence they always display their goods by the side of the road.
Mararaba, a community 20km away from the state capital, has established itself over the years as one of the strategic cattle markets in the North that attracts traders from within and outside Nigeria every Thursday.
SP Ahmed Muhammad Wakil, Police Public Relations Officer Bauchi State Command, confirmed the incident saying that the truck exploded after it collided with a Sharon model bus.
“After the fire was put off, two female lifeless bodies were found under the wreckage. One of the bodies was identified as Anti Malam Yahaya, a resident of Liman katagum, and the other one was born beyond recognition but we are suspecting that she is the daughter of the dead woman,” he said.
Yusuf Abdullahi, Bauchi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, said that frantic effort was made to quench the fire to stop it from escalating to other shops and vehicles parked by the side of the road.
