Tragedy struck in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital yesterday, when a tipper driver veered off the road and crushed a 16-year-old girl to death around Taiwo Isale junction.
The victim, Moridiyat Abdullateef, who was said to be an SS 1 student of Government Girls' Day Secondary School, Oke Suna, Ilorin, wanted to cross to the other side of the road when the driver of the tipper lost control and hit her.
Sources told Daily Trust that the truck fell into a pit near Asa River with the girl who died on the spot just as nearby kiosks were also destroyed. The girl wanted to go and fetch water for her grand-father before going to school.
It was gathered that while residents and good Samaritans struggled to save the girl, the driver of the tipper who was said to have been excessively drunk and over-speeding, reportedly took to his heels.
No sooner the incident occurred than a police towing vehicle arrived at the scene to remove the truck but the policemen met stiff resistance from sympathizers and residents around who prevented them from towing the vehicle.
Father of the girl, Abdullateef Mohammed, a teacher, looking calm and sombre, described the incident as an act of God as he intermittently muttered Alhamdulillahi, "All Praise is to Allah" in response to consolation from sympathizers.
He said Moridiyat was going to fetch water for her grandfather as she used to do in the morning before going to school but by dint of fate, she lost her life.