UMUAHIA—FOUR persons were feared dead in a multiple autocrash which occurred yesterday along the Ubakala, Umuahia South axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt express way. Several others who sustained various degrees of injuries were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia.
An eyewitness account said four vehicles including a Toyota Hilux van with registration number CG 539RSH, a Peugeot J5 bus marked XA 874 AKW, and a Mercedes Benz tipper with No EGG 555 YG as well as a commercial bus were involved in the accident.
A victim of the accident, Abdulhamid Abubakar blamed the incident on the driver of the the Hilux van who he said was over speeding. “We were four in number in the J5 bus travelling from Lafia,, Nasarawa State to Aba in Abia State, to sell bags of oranges and garden eggs; myself and three of my friends, Husaini Tanko, Imamu Abubakar and Ibrahim Abubakar.
“The accident happened when the vehicle in front of us applied the brake suddenly as it was trying to dodge an oncoming Hilux van that was on high speed. “The bus in front of our own vehicle lost control and rammed into the bush, while we skidded into it and our bus somersaulted and later caught fire, while their Hilux also rammed into the tipper it was about to overtake. “Unfortunately, one of our friends died, while two of us were injured. However, one of us did not sustain any injury”, Abubakar narrated.
An officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps,FRSC, confirmed the incident and said the commission was investigating the cause of the crash. However, an eye witness who identified himself as Emeka also confirmed the incident.
The Public Relations Officer, FMC Umuahia, Mr. Darlington Madubuko also confirmed the incident, saying that “the police brought in some accident victims to the hospital around 9 am. Two people were certified dead while six others were being treated by our doctors, but one of them later passed on”.
He confirmed that only three dead and three injured victims were identified by their relations and called on the public whose relations travelled and have not been heard from to check at accident and emergency ward of the hospital to identify them.
VANGUARD
