A resident of the village, Abdulrahman Mohammed, told Daily Trust that the truck crashed into a bridge at a sharp bend in the area on Wednesday morning.
As of 4 pm on Wednesday, when he spoke with our correspondent, he said victims were still being evacuated from the water.
Confirming the incident, Niger State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Aishatu Sa’adu, said it was a lone crash involving a heavy-duty truck loaded with goods and carrying 42 passengers, comprising 41 males and 1 female.
She said the accident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday when the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to fall into a bridge at Wuya.
According to her, 17 male passengers and one female passenger died on the spot, while 22 male passengers sustained serious injuries. Two others were rescued without injuries.
She said the injured victims were evacuated to the Federal Medical Centre, Bida, while the remains of those who died were deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.
‘It was a lone crash involving a truck loaded with goods and 42 passengers. The passengers comprised 41 males and one female. Eighteen of the passengers, comprising 17 males and one female, died, while 22 others were injured.
‘The injured victims have been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Bida. Also, the bodies of those who lost their lives were deposited at the mortuary of the same hospital. The truck took off from Lagos and was going to Kano when it crashed in the early hours of Wednesday,’ she said.