Graphic photos: Fatal Crash Claims Lives

A head-on-collision between a commercial bus and a trailer left about 13 people dead at Ofeme Junction on Umuahia Road, Abia State, on sunday morning.

It was reported that the trailer en route to Enugu State from Port Harcourt, River State, was said to be on top speed and lost control, veering into the path of the Peace Mass Transit Limited bus en route from Enugu State to Umuahia. 

An eyewitness, who identified herself simply as Sharon, told The Punch reporters that some of the passengers were mangled in the bus while others were thrown on the road as crowd gathered to rescue the injured. She said she was in another bus travelling to Ebonyi State, adding that he counted eight lifeless bodies at the spot.

Another eyewitness blamed the accident on the reckleness of the trailer driver, “The bus driver was driving at a good speed because he was almost at Umuahia which is the final destination. It was the driver of the trailer that lost control of the vehicle because he was speeding and suddenly, it derailed into the path of the bus. Thirteen passengers, including the bus driver died instantly. Only three persons were rescued alive and two of them are in critical conditions,” he said.

The Sector Commander, FRSC Abia State Command, Mrs. Stella Uche, confirmed that 13 persons died. She said the two injured victims had been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, for treatment and urged motorists to install speed limiters into their vehicles to avert accidents and loss of lives.

She said, “The command received a distress call at 11.20am and its operatives moved to the scene of the accident at Ofeme Junction immediately. The accident was caused by excess speeding on the part of the Man Disel (trailer) driver. It lost control and veered into the route of the bus. Out of the 16 persons in the bus, two injured while 13 persons – nine males, three females and a child – died. The injured were taken to the FMC, Umuahia and the corpses had been deposited in the mortuary.

The trailer driver was said to have fled the scene immediately after the crash.

More photos below...