A tragic accident involving University of Jos students in the early hours of Thursday has left eight people dead, including the bus driver, after a trailer reportedly struck their vehicle along Zaria Road, Jos.
According to reports, the students were returning from a night outing around 2am in two hired buses. As one of the buses approached the Zaria Road Stadium area, a trailer coming from behind rammed into it. The impact caused the driver to lose control, sending the bus swerving off the road.
The vehicle crashed violently into an electric pole just before the Farin Gada bridge. The collision tore the bus apart, killing eight occupants instantly. Emergency responders later arrived to evacuate the bodies and attend to the injured.
While the second bus in the convoy was not involved in the crash and safely transported its passengers home, the bus directly hit by the trailer suffered catastrophic damage.
Two survivors from the wrecked bus have now provided firsthand accounts of the accident. Both students sustained only minor injuries and were seated at the back, where the force of the impact was less severe.
One survivor recounted how quickly the tragedy unfolded:
“We were sitting at the back, so the force didn’t hit us as badly. Immediately the trailer struck us, the bus started shaking. Before anyone could react, we hit the electric pole. The whole bus just broke apart.”
Another survivor explained that the group had hired two buses after leaving a club around 2am and were heading back when the trailer collided with them from behind. “It was sudden. We didn’t even see the trailer. After the hit, everyone was shouting… then the crash happened,” he recalled.
The University of Jos community has been plunged into mourning, with students and families grieving the sudden deaths.
Authorities are expected to issue an official statement as investigations continue into the cause of the collision and the actions of the trailer driver.
Photo Source: @Plateau The Beautiful
