Passengers missing as car plunges into river along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway

Several passengers are reportedly missing after a car plunged into a river at Gidan Azara, along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, on Saturday evening.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 6:45 p.m., with the vehicle plunging into the river and leaving the whereabouts of its occupants unknown. Blueprint reports

Efforts to recover the vehicle and establish the fate of the passengers were ongoing as of the time of filing this report.

Local divers fail to recover vehicle

According to information from the Radio Corps Marshal, local divers were deployed to the scene to search for the vehicle and its occupants.

However, the divers were reportedly unable to recover the vehicle from the river during their initial attempts.

The unsuccessful recovery operation has heightened concerns over the safety of the passengers, whose number and identities were not immediately known.

FRSC, security agencies at scene

Personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps and other security agencies have since arrived at the scene to coordinate the recovery operation.

The FRSC Officer Commanding the Corridor, DCC Bello, is reportedly coordinating efforts to remove the submerged vehicle and locate the occupants.

Rescue personnel are expected to continue the search and recovery operation as efforts intensify to determine whether any of the passengers can be rescued.

Search operation continues

The circumstances that led to the vehicle plunging into the river were not immediately clear as of the time of filing the report.

Authorities were yet to provide details on the identity of the vehicle, the number of passengers on board or whether there were any confirmed casualties.

The incident has once again raised concerns about road safety along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, one of the major transportation routes connecting Kaduna and Abuja.

The FRSC and other responding agencies are expected to provide further updates as the recovery operation progresses.

The whereabouts of the passengers remain unknown, while rescue teams continue efforts to locate the vehicle and establish what happened to those inside.

Further details are expected as the operation continues.