Bus Crashes Into Primary School, Kills Two

A commercial bus driver yesterday crashed into a primary school in Andaza town, Kiyawa Local Government Area of Jigawa State, killing two pupils and injuring others. Aggrieved youths immediately set the vehicle ablaze.

Our correspondent gathered in Andaza town yesterday that Sa'adiyyah Uba and another girl were killed while Shehu Ibrahim and Naja'atu Na-Barno sustained fractures on their legs. Others affected include Tababa Sani, Shafa'atu Barau and one other girl. They are currently receiving treatment at the Dutse General Hospital.

A witness, Mallam Shehu Ibrahim, told Daily Trust that the driver was coming from Kiyawa town when he ran into the pupils while avoiding a truck. Shehu, the school's duty master, said, "The bus was following a truck which I stopped to allow the pupils that were on break to cross the road. After realising that he could not control the bus from hitting the truck from behind, the driver decided to avert the accident by following the right hand side of the truck and ran into the children".

"I narrowly escaped death because the overzealous driver would have kill me if not because I quickly jumped from the main road when I saw him coming towards us on high speed," he added. Our correspondent further learnt that the driver involved was later pursued and stopped a kilometre from the scene of the accident by a motorist.

Police Public Relations Officer ASP Abdul Jinjiri confirmed the death of the two primary school pupils, saying the driver involved was arrested later by the police. He added that investigation was in progress.