By Tony Adibe
At least 13 persons were said to have burnt to death on Sunday night in an auto crash which involved a Toyota bus and a trailer at 4-Corner Junction, few kilometres to Enugu, capital of the Coal City State.
Reports said that the victims were burnt beyond recognition as the bus conveying them from Imo to Adamawa State, had a head-on collision with a trailer and burst into a raging flame instantly. It was learnt that the accident, said to have occurred at about 10.30pm close to army checkpoint at 4-Corners, attracted the soldiers, who made fruitless efforts to rescue the victims.
The victims were said to be attempting to beat the Monday’s sit-at-home order in solidarity with the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu over continued detention by the Federal Government when the bus collided with the trailer.
Also, it was learnt that soldiers alerted the officials of Road Safety and Enugu State Fire Service, but their quick response could not save the victims whose burnt remains were beyond recognition.
NewsBits further learnt that almost all the passengers were deep asleep, when the incident occurred, hence they were not able to react quickly to the situation. But the only survivor was said to have escaped through the window of the bus and was later picked by security operatives.
The survivor, however, was reportedly taken to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, which is less than ten minutes drive from the scene of the crash.
…The Burnt Bodies Of The Victims Were Taken To The Mortuary Of The UNTH.
The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Enugu State command, Mr. Joseph Toby, confirmed the incident in Enugu, although he added that he could not give the number of casualties until they were through with work at the scene.
Toby explained that he and his men rushed to the scene immediately he received the information about the accident and stayed there with the fire men from the Enugu State Fire Service till 2:00p.m. Monday morning.
He said that they had to come back to the scene on Monday morning to evacuate the wreckage from the road, despite the sit-at-home condition being rather observed by most residents of the state.
