TRAGIC! 21 students on excursion die in bus crash, Dogara mourns
At least 22 students and teachers of Government Secondary School, Misau, Bauchi State have been confirmed dead in an accident on Tuesday.
The students were traveling for an excursion to Kano when the accident occurred around 11 am near Tsaida village in Gaya Local Government Area of the state.
The bus they were travelling in had a head on collusion with a DAF truck.
Only three survived with varying degrees of injuries, Mr. Kabir Ibrahim-Daura, the Public Relations Officer, Federal Road Safety Corps in Kano State, confirmed.
“Of the 22 students, 12 are male while the remaining 10 are female,” he said.
“Two of the injured were taken to Gaya General Hospital, while the remaining one has been referred to a Specialist Hospital in Kano.”
Nasiru Darazo, elder brother to one of the deceased students, Ibrahim Girema, described their death as a ‘colossal loss’.
“Their remains were all smashed; you would not like to look at their bodies twice,” he explained, with emotions covering his face,” he said.
The accident victims have been buried according to Islamic rites.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has expressed deep condolences to families and the people of Bauchi State over the deaths.
Dogara, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by Mr Turaki Hassan, his Special Adviser on Media & Public Affairs, said: “I am deeply saddened by the untimely and sudden death of these children.
“They died while pursuing education and in a quest for knowledge as future leaders of our country.
“This is a national tragedy of monumental proportion and a huge loss to the country.
“These children embodied our hopes and aspirations for a better society and their sudden death is a big loss to Nigeria because only God knows what they could have become in the future.
“I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to their parents, students and teachers of Government Secondary School Misau, Misau Emirate Council and the entire Bauchi State over this tragic incident.”
