JUST IN: Seven wedding guests die in auto crash
Seven persons who were returning from a wedding have died in an auto crash on the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Expressway.
Also, a woman wearing an apron of a popular pentecostal church, said to be going for a vigil, was knocked down by a commercial bus driver on the Aba-Ezumini Road.
It was gathered that five other passengers who sustained injuries in the same Sienna (Sport Utility Vehicle) are battling for survival in a private hospital.
The accident, which happened at the Ukpakiri, Obingwa axis of the expressway, was between the Sienna and 911 truck carrying sand.
Some residents blamed the driver for overspeeding.
The bodies of the deceased, including children, teenagers and adults, have been deposited at an undisclosed morgue.This is the second time in a fortnight that a fatal accident happened on the same route.
The expressway, whose reconstruction was awarded by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPLC), serves as a major entrance and exit route from Abia State.
The road was approved for dualisation in October 2021, as part of the Federal Government’s road Infrastructure and Refreshment Tax Credit Scheme, funded by the NNPC. However, contractors have only completed a portion of the project, leaving a significant stretch from Ohanze to Opobo junction as a single lane.
A resident, Elder Okezie Nwankerendu condemned the incomplete dualisation.
“The road was supposed to be dualised, but it’s still a single lane in some areas. This is unacceptable. We need the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure the project is completed to reduce these accidents,” he emphasised.
A driver hit the tricycle carrying the woman with other passengers.
The impact of the accident was said to have left the woman severely wounded and losing blood as well as she smashed her head on the main road.
It was gathered that the woman was rushed to the hospital but died after several hospitals rejected her.
It was gathered that those who took the woman to the hospital, later brought her lifeless body to the scene as there were no means of identifying her.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Maureen Chinaka, confirmed the accident.
