No fewer than five people lost their lives as nine others sustained injuries in a tragic accident involving a 16-seater mass transit bus along the Abakaliki-Enugu Expressway in Ebonyi State.
The accident occurred on Thursday at the well-known G-hostel area of the busy interstate route. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Command in Ebonyi confirmed the incident to Channels Television on Friday.
Ebonyi FRSC Sector Commander, Igwe Henry, said that the fully loaded bus with about 16 persons crashed and busted into flames after encountering an obstacle on the road in the middle of the night.
“It happened at night, we were not the first responders, others came before we came. But the vehicle actually rammed into a construction/road maintenance site, and then caught fire, resulting in the casualty figures we have,” he said.
He said that five persons were burnt to death, while nine others were severely injured with various degrees of burns and have been taken to Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki for medical treatment.
“The vehicle have 16 passengers and 9 were injured, 7 females and 2 males and 5 killed, 2 male adults and 3 female adults. Both the dead and injured have been taken to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki,” Igwe stated.
Meanwhile, the charred remains of those who lost their lives have been deposited at the morgue.
