Ten die in Ebonyi as bus, crane collide

No fewer than 10 persons, including a woman and her two children, on Tuesday lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident at Hausa Quarters junction, along Abakaliki-Afikpo Road in Ebonyi State.

The accident, involving 18-seater bus belonging to Ezza South Local Government Area with the registration number NKE 28LG, rammed into a crane truck belonging to a Chinese company, with registration number DKA 17YF.

Witnesses said good Samaritans responding to the accident had to use axe to break open the mangled bus to retrieve the bodies.

Residents told PREMIUM TIMES that one of those who sustained injuries was a pregnant woman who was rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki in critical condition.

“She and other wounded victims were believed to be in critical condition at the hospital as doctors and nurses were seen battling to save their lives,” residents said.

A witness, Favour John, who spoke to our correspondent at the scene said although the point was prone to accidents, the crash was caused by speed.

“The truck was trying to turn all the way from Spera in deo junction but the bus driver, instead of stopping like others who saw it and stopped decided to drive past but unfortunately he rammed into it.

“It is due to over speeding that made him to ram into the turning truck,” the witness said.

He called on the state government to put up bump at the junction to prevent further accident at the area.

Another witness, Chibuike Nwali, described as painful the death of the passengers a few weeks to the Yuletide season.

He blamed the driver of the bus for causing the accident.

“The impatience of the driver led to this accident. The most painful thing was the death of a woman and her two kids who died instantly at the scene,” he said.

A resident of the area, Victor Ituma, blamed the accident on the truck for “turning at such a busy point on the road”.

“I was just coming out from my house reaching to this junction, this crane was turning when the bus rammed into it.

“My annoyance was that a truck like this with this capacity coming to turn at this busy junction should have had a revolving light or an assistant controlling the traffic,” he said.