The Plateau road crash that killed 20 people on Friday began when a truck reportedly lost its brakes on a hill in Plateau State.
The crash claimed 18 passengers on a Yankari Express bus and two people riding a motorcycle. Channels Television reported that the impact set the bus on fire and trapped everyone inside.
It happened at Hawan Kibo, in Riyom Local Government Area. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said in a statement issued in Abuja that the collision came at about 3.32pm, just after Sopp Water Falls on the Hawan Kibo to Jos route. Some local accounts put the time nearer 5pm.
Four vehicles were involved. A Howo Sino truck, a Toyota Corolla, a Toyota Hummer bus and the motorcycle.
The FRSC said 25 people were caught up in the Plateau road crash. Twenty males died. Five people, three males and two females, were injured and taken to Riyom General Hospital and Vom Christian Hospital. The bodies went to the mortuary at Jos University Teaching Hospital.
Adelaja Ogungbemi, the FRSC sector commander in Plateau, pointed to the truck. He told Channels Television the cause was “brake failure from the truck, which rammed into other vehicles heading towards Jos”.
Moses Gyang told TG News he was close by at about 5pm. He said the vehicle lost control as it came down the hill, and that people were shouting for help.
FRSC Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed has ordered a full investigation into the Plateau road crash, with a focus on the brake failure and loss of control. The statement does not say who was driving the truck, or whether the driver survived.
It also puts the human cost in Mohammed’s words:
“Behind every number is a name, a home, a family and a future.”
However, the statements issued so far, has not named any of the dead. All references to the Plateau road crash as it stands, remains a number.
Hawan Kibo has a record. Channels Television reported that on 22 October 2024, an 18-passenger bus travelling from Yola to Abuja ran into a stationary articulated vehicle there, killing 19 people. The FRSC blamed speed. The Nigerian Air Force said five of the dead were its personnel, on their way to a sporting event in Abuja.
An eyewitness told TG News on Friday that residents had “never seen such an accident here in recent times”. The record suggests the Plateau road crash is not without precedent. Less than two years separate the two disasters, and both happened at Hawan Kibo.
The causes differ. The FRSC blamed speed in 2024 and now suspects brake failure. The hill is the same.
Brake failure explains how the Plateau road crash unfolded. It does not explain why. Was the truck roadworthy? When were its brakes last checked? The FRSC has not said.
Mohammed urged commercial and heavy-duty vehicle drivers to prioritise roadworthiness, maintenance and speed control. He said no journey was so urgent that it should end in death. Ogungbemi made the same plea, adding that drivers should take particular care on bends.
The FRSC says its rescue teams have already cleared the wreckage of the Plateau road crash and reopened the road. The road has reopened, but questions remain over what caused the truck to lose control and whether the crash could have been prevented.
