15 children crushed to death

Fifteen children aged between 12 and 16 years were yesterday crushed
to death in Barkin-Ladi, Plateau State, by a commercial vehicle
conveying maize to a nearby market. Nine others were injured and have
been hospitalized.
The children who were said to be members of the Boys and Girls
Brigadeof about three churches in the local government headquarters
were on an early morning keep-fit exercise when the incident occurred.
It was gathered that the youths from three churches usually gather for
the exercise by jogging to and from nearby villages but it was an
unluckyday as a vehicle carrying maize from Bokkos lost control and
ran into thechildren numbering about 40 killing the 15 instantly. An
eye witness told Sunday Vanguard that parents whose children were in
the team rushed to the scene to ascertain the well-being of their
children. This created its own commotion. The bodies of the deceased
and the injured were later taken to a nearby health centre where the
injured were given first aid treatment before they were transferred to
the Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP, Felicia Anslem
confirmed the incident, adding that investigations had commenced and
efforts were on to track down the fleeing driver of the vehicle.