The Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway was the scene of a horrific tragedy that left no less than 11 people dead and one person unconscious, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
Two of the 14 people who were engaged in the accident on Sunday, October 30, at about 8:45 p.m., had minor injuries, according to the FRSC.
On Monday in Enugu, Mr. Joseph Toby, Sector Commander of the FRSC, Enugu State Command, confirmed the event to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to Toby, that incident happened after a 14-seater bus carrying 12 passengers and a vehicle carrying a driver and his conductor collided.
He claimed that the 14-passenger bus was traveling during the night from Kano, the capital of Imo State, to Owerri.
FRSC marshals, according to him, were sent to the accident site as soon as they were informed by concerned citizens, and “immediately we summoned in the state fire service officers,” he added.
He asserted that “it is quite plausible” that the 14-seater bus may have had one or two litres of fuel, which ignited as soon as the collision occurred.
The state fire service took several minutes and an additional water truck to put out the significant fire, which wasn’t just an accident.
“Then, we (FRSC officials), moved in and recovered the trapped and dead bodies in the bus.
“The only survival of the bus, who jumped out of the bus forcefully and still unconscious, have been taken by our personnel to the accident and emergency ward of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu,” he said.
The commander noted that the identity of the 14-seater bus was unclear even when its registration number KTG 41 XD was verified on the FRSC system; it was not identified to anybody.
“This development has made contact tracing of the victims’ relatives difficult for the corps,” he said.
