SIXTEEN students of the Christ the King Secondary School, Agbor, Delta State, who were on their way to Benin on excursion, lost their lives weekend in a ghastly motor accident along the Benin-Asaba express road.
Vanguard learnt that eighteen others sustained serious injuries in the accident which occurred after a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number KN 679 FKJ conveying passengers from Lagos to Onitsha had a burst tyre and somersaulted. It strayed into the Benin bound lane and colluded head on with the Bus conveying the students to Benin.
The incident which occurred around Orhionmwon bridge at about 3pm attracted hundreds of sympathisers from the community. Parents and relations of the victims could not control their emotions as the bodies of the students in their school uniform littered the express road.
Vanguard gathered that fourteen of them died on the spot while two others gave up the ghost at the Aigbogu Hospital in Abudu, where they were rushed to. The two buses involved in the accident were destroyed beyond recognition.
Other road users and men of the Police and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), were involved in ensuring that the mangled bodies of the victims were removed from the wreckage.
The Edo State Police Public Relation Officer, ASP Peter Ogboi, who described the incident as a serious tragedy, narrated that the ?accident occurred because of the burst tyre of the bus conveying traders from Lagos to Onitsha. So the bus somersaulted and veered off the lane to that of the Benin bound vehicle and that was it. It is quite shocking because we learnt that the students were on their way to Benin on excursion, it is very sad.
?That is why we always preach that people should not over speed because you do not know what will happen. You can never trust the vehicle. May be it would not have been severer if the bus was not on speed. But the bodies have been deposited at the mortuary and the parents of the students have also been contacted?, he stated.
Ikaworld.com
Leave a Reply