by crossriverwatch admin
Axes and machetes were deployed on Wednesday evening along the Ogoja- Calabar highway to extricate the mangled bodies of nine commuters, six male and three females following a head on collision between a Audi 80 car and a Toyota hiace bus.
The crash which occurred at about 5pm at Esinjok village some twenty kilometers from Ogoja, an eye witness said, was caused by the Toyota bus which was heading towards Ogoja and was attempting to overtake a trailer “but the trailer was moving very fast and the bus could not over take it and the Audi which saw the bus coming but was on high speed too and could not slow down or give way for the bus to pass so the two vehicles collided”. John Ebile, an Esinjok villager who witnessed the accident said.
Two of the three occupants of the Audi car were said to have died on the spot while six passengers in the Toyota Hiace bus also died on the spot and others sustained severe injuries “some of them may not be able to walk again because their legs were badly affected”. Ebile said
Those who sustained injuries were taken to the General Hospital, Ogoja while corpses of the dead were deposited at the hospital’s mortuary. One of the injured commuters, a youth Agnes Oleka said the bus which belongs to the Imo Transport Corporation was on its way from Enugu to Ogoja
Mr Kagho Odafe, the Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogoja said the accident is a product of over speeding and recklessness by the drivers. The accident he said took place a week after another one close to the same spot which claimed five lives. “In the other accident late last week, a trailer which was speeding down from Calabar wanted to overtake a vehicle on a bend and suddenly saw another trailer coming on the opposite direction and to avoid a head on collision with the oncoming one, decided to sweep a Dyna van which was stationery unto the bush where it hung on a tree killing its occupants”
Mr Odafe called on drivers plying the Calabar –Ogoja road to be careful and obey traffic signs. “Government is doing its best by rehabilitating the roads that is not to say drivers should be reckless and over speed because the road is better now”.
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