Two persons have died while several were hospitalized in a head on collision between a Ford transit bus and a Volkswagen Passat wagon along the Abakaliki-Enugu expressway.
It was gathered that the Ford transit car with registration number, XX 225 ENU was conveying passengers from Effium in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State to Abakaliki, the state capital when it collided with the Volkswagen with registration number AKL 520 KC.
The bus it was learnt was carrying about 23 passengers while the wagon had 3 passengers when the accident occurred near the permanent site campus of Ebonyi State University.
An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ebonyi State Command who spoke to our reporter in confidence, said that 2 of the passengers, a male and another female, died at the spot while several occupants of the commercial vehicle were also seriously injured in the accident.
He said that the accident occurred as a result of over speeding and dangerous over-taking adding that because of the over speeding of the driver, he could not control the vehicle and had a head-on collision with the coming vehicle.
The source said: “the Ford transit vehicle was carrying passengers numbering over 23. The passengers were heading to Abakaliki the Ebonyi State capital from Effuim. The driver was on a very high speed and just at the Permanent site of the Ebonyi State University gate, the Volk-Wagen Passat driver in an attempt to over take another vehicle had a head on collission with the Ford car”.
“By the time our men got to the scene of the accident, we observed that two of the occupants, a female and a male died at the spot while several others including children sustained various degrees of injuries. From our findings, the passengers were returning to Abakaliki after the weekend.”
He further stated that the corpse of the deceased was immediately deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki mortuary while those who sustained injuries were also rushed to the same hospital for urgent medical attention.
According to him: “25 persons were injured, 8 male, 10 female and 7 children. Immediately we got the information of the crash in the late hours of yesterday, we immediately sent our men to the scene.
“Immediately they got there, they were able to assist in ensuring that those who sustained injuries were rushed to the hospital and control the traffic in the area as most vehicles had to stop to assist the victims
“We had to make urgent arrangement to assist in helping those who sustained injuries to a nearby hospital as most of them were either bleeding or were unconscious. One of the passangers, a woman had one of her leg cut and after rushing the woman to the hospital, we had to come back to the scene to pick the leg and take it to the hospital. We have always advised motorists to avoid dangerous overtaking and over speeding.”
