No fewer than 13 passengers in an 18-seater bus, belonging to the Gombe State Transport Company, have been confirmed dead after colliding with a truck owned by Dangote Transport Company, a report this morning in The PUNCH said.

The paper said that the accident occurred on Friday along the Akwanga/Abuja Highway in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

It said it learnt that “the accident occurred when the truck allegedly attempted to overtake a van at a bend and, in the process, rammed into the oncoming 18-seater bus.”

“The truck was said to be coming from Jos, Plateau State, while the bus was coming from Port Harcourt.

“It was learnt that 10 of the passengers died on the spot, while three others died later at a hospital where they were rushed to.

“The truck driver and his assistant were said to have fled after the crash,” the report said.

It quoted the Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Nasarawa State Police Command, ASP Usman Samaila, as confirming the incident and disclosing that the accident occurred when the truck rammed into the bus while trying to overtake a van at a bend.

“The wounded victims were rushed to the hospital by emergency officials and the corpses of the dead deposited in a morgue,” Samaila reportedly said, adding that the management of Dangote Transport Company has been notified about the ghastly accident.

He further told The PUNCH that the police has launched a manhunt for the fleeing truck driver and his assistant, assuring that the command would soon arrest them.

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