Crash: 20 children die in 10 days, says FRSC

    
Twenty children died in road traffic accidents between December 19 and 28, while 75 others sustained injuries from the crashes, the Federal Road Safety Commission said on Monday.

This information was contained in a statement by Mr Jonas Agwu, the FRSC’s Public Education Officer.

The statement said 144 children of the 239 children, involved in road accidents during the period, were rescued unhurt.

The FRSC had on December 19 begun a Special Patrol for the Christmas and New Year celebration tagged ‘Operation Zero Tolerance’.

The commission deployed 34,000 personnel and equipment in critical and major highways across the country as well as four helicopters for aerial surveillance.

The FRSC had said on December 24 that 107 died and 1,398 persons were involved in 214 road accidents between December 19 and December 23.

It said the figures represented a reduction in the number of deaths and injured when compared to 156 deaths and 1,882 injured persons in 236 accidents in the corresponding period of 2012.

The statement, therefore, advised parents and drivers to ensure that children were “appropriately restrained’’ in vehicles during travels.

It added that those under 12 years should be restrained in the rear seats in line with the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012.