Several people including a family of four were reportedly killed in a ghastly auto crash on Tuesday at a military checkpoint in Enugu State.
The accident happened at Ugwu Onyeama along Enugu-Onitsha Expressway around 9am on Tuesday.
According to some eyewitnesses, seven persons died on the spot, while many sustained different degrees of injury in the accident that involved multiple vehicles.
The affected family, yet to be identified, includes a man, his wife, and two children. Only one of the children was said to have survived.
The incident, one of the eyewitnesses, told SaharaReporters occurred when a tanker carrying inflammable product had a head-on collision with a trailer carrying cement at a military checkpoint because of the blockade.
The crash now affected other vehicles in a queue at the checkpoint.
A fully loaded GUO bus traveling to Lagos from Ebonyi State, a private car with parents and their two young children, and an unmarked bus, were also involved in the crash.
The Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Ifeanyi Ossai, was at the scene of the incident for an on-the-spot assessment, and the hospitals where the injured victims were taken to, while lamenting the losses.
Ossai thanked the hospitals for their promptness in treating the victims as well as the first respondents for their efforts in reducing the number of casualties.
“We visited the private clinic at 9th mile where a substantial number of our citizens are hospitalized and we are also here at the orthopedic hospital where some of the victims are receiving treatment.
“We’re also grateful to the Doctors for their prompt interventions because I’m sure but for their interventions, we would have had more losses. We’re also grateful to the first responders; the military personnel, Road Safety Corps, fire service, DSS and police, and all the institutions that came and effected immediate response and ensure we didn’t lose more persons than we lost.”
The Deputy Governor also assured that the government will assist the injured persons in their treatment.
He said the incident has also exposed the need to strengthen the institutions responsible for maintaining accident-free roads as some accidents are avoidable, while harping on the need for regular vehicle maintenance and training programs for the drivers.
Meanwhile, Governor Peter Mbah, expressed deep grief over the fatal road accident that occurred at Ugwu Onyeama.
Commiserating with the families and loved ones of victims of the crash, Mbah described the incident as “unfortunate and horrific”, saying it was a black Tuesday for the entire state.
Mbah, who spoke in a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday evening, which was signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Mainstream Media, Dan Nwomeh, commended the men of the FRSC and kind-hearted Nigerians for their rescue efforts, assuring that the government would render assistance to the injured and also cause enquiry into the unfortunate road crash.