No fewer than 21 people were confirmed dead Thursday in Enugu State in an accident involving a low-bed articulated vehicle and a fully-loaded 608 Mercedes Benz bus conveying school children and their teachers.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said that 21 persons lost their lives in the auto crash on the old Enugu – Okigwe Road.
It happened precisely at the Nkwo Junction of the road at about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when the school children were returning home.
The FRSC sector commander in Enugu State, Mr Ogbonnaya Kalu, confirmed the accident and the number of deaths to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu.
Kalu said that the FRSC Unit in Awgu had been to the scene of the accident and hospitals where the victims were receiving medical attention.
According to him, the fully-loaded school bus had 64 occupants, which included 61 students/pupils, two teachers and the driver.
“The low-bed trailer, which eyewitnesses alleged suffered a brake system failure, rammed into the school bus first and into a welder’s shop, where the welder and his apprentice were working,’’ he said.
An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the low-bed vehicle lost control and rammed into a big school bus conveying some secondary and primary school children home.
He said the sad accident threw a lot of families within the Agwu axis of the state into mourning as a family allegedly lost three of its kids.
“The driver of the heavy duty vehicle ran away from the scene of the accident after forcing the vehicle to a halt inside the bush,’’ the eyewitness said. (NAN)
