Six persons died yesterday and several others were injured in an accident in Umuchu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The accident, which happened at Ibughubu market, involved two articulated vehicles – a tipper (JJT 421 XG) and a cement truck.
Properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.
An eyewitness, Joshua Agbasiri, said the vehicles collided before they rammed into stalls in the market.
He said: “The driver of the cement truck was speeding and it pushed the tipper to the other side of the market where it destroyed shops and injured many.
“The two drivers, one of the conductors and two traders were crushed.”
He called on the government to install speed breakers on the road as it was becoming a death trap.
Chairman of Ibughubu Village Mr. Titus Ike said three shops, belonging to Okwudili Egbobuike and Nonso Ezekwelu, were affected in the accident.
When The Nation visited the scene, policemen from Umuchu police station were on ground to douse tension and stop unscrupulous elements from looting.
It was learnt that the bodies had been deposited in the mortuary, while the injured were receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
Many persons are also feared dead and scores injured in yesterday’s accident in Onitsha.
The accident, which happened around Toronto Hospital along Upper Iweka and MCC axis of the Onitsha-Awka expressway, involved a trailer laden with kerosene.
The Nation gathered that the trailer was heading for Upper Iweka from Awka when the driver lost control following a brake failure.
Eyewitnesses said the driver, in a bid to control the vehicle, veered off the speed lane to the service lane where traders displayed their wares by the road side.
“The trailer crushed some of the people who are mostly petty traders as it dragged along the road before it finally stopped,” one of them said.
The bodies were evacuated by security operatives.
Chairman of the Red Cross Society Prof. Peter Katchy said seven persons died on the spot and have been deposited at the morgue.
He said: “We rescued about three persons who sustained severe injuries while the bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Toronto hospital mortuary.”
Katchy added that officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the police assisted in the rescue operation.