Zamfara State Government has declared three days of mourning after 17 people died in a road accident near Tsafe along Sokoto road on Wednesday in the evening.
Those involved in the accident were PDP supporters who went to receive Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle upon his return from Abuja.
A media aide to the governor, Zailani Bappa, said “On Wednesday when we returned from Abuja with the governor, the youths received us in Tsafe. But shortly after we left, we were around Kwatarkwashi when we learnt that some of the youths were involved in accident.
“From there, the governor directed us to turn back. We found that one of the articulated vehicles we saw on our way lost control and ran over three Gulf vehicles the youths were traveling in.”
The aide said the scene of the accident was horrific as one of the vehicles was crushed, adding that they evacuated the corpses, while the injured ones to the hospital.
“This morning we observed funeral prayers for eight people, while the rest were taken by their families for funerals separately. Three others are still in the hospital,” he added.
Following the accident, Governor Matawalle declared three days of mourning and the flying of flags at half-mast.
The spokesman for the police in Zamfara, SP Muhammad Shehu, described the accident as unfortunate saying the articulated vehicle than ran over the victims was coming from Sokoto State.
He said investigation is on to establish the cause of the accident.
A witness said the accident was caused by a golf driver who wanted to overtake some vehicles but lost control and hit one of the tyres of the articulated vehicle.
