SIX PEOPLE KILLED, 18 VEHICLES DESTROYED IN ROAD CRASHES, GAS TANKER EXPLOSION AT KARU, NEAR ABUJA

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed the death of at least six persons in multiple road crashes, leading to an explosion of a gas tanker, along the AYA-Karu Expressway in the Federal Capital Territory. NEMA says it could not determine the number of people who were also injured in the incident and evacuated to hospitals for medical attention. It disclosed that the injured victims were taken to National Hospital, State House Clinic, Karu General Hospital, and Customs Clinic Karu for medical attention. Additionally, NEMA confirmed that eighteen vehicles, including sixteen cars and two trucks were affected by the accident. The agency said its Abuja Operations Office received a distress call about the incident at approximately 19:00hrs, while the officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) where already on ground. In a statement, NEMA said officials of its Search and Rescue Team, together with other emergency rescue equipment, were mobilised to the scene and helped to move the injured persons to hospital for medical attention. NEMA further noted that the major challenge encountered during the response operation was traffic and crowd control, which caused delays in accessing the scene, especially for the emergency rescue ambulance.