No fewer that 14 persons lost their lives on Tuesday night along the Benin-Ore federal highway. Five others who sustained serious injuries are in hospital.
In another accident, a car knocked down three primary school children yesterday in Port Harcourt. Two of the children-a boy and a girl- died on the spot while the third was seriously wounded.
Daily Sun was told that the 14 persons died when Eastern-bound commercial bus ran into a truck along kilometre 18 close to Ugbogui in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
The driver of the ill-fated bus with registration number XY 234 FST was said to be travelling from Lagos to Anambra State when he ran into the on-coming truck marked XE 887 AWK at about 7:20pm.
Among the dead were six females and eight males whose corpses have been deposited at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in the state capital.
Actual cause of the accident could not be immediately ascertained as at the time of filing this report but it was learnt that the driver of the commercial bus was about to overtake another vehicle when he collided head-on with the trailer.
It was further gathered that but for the swift intervention of good Samaritans and policemen on routine check close to the area who pulled out some of those trapped, the death toll would have risen. Confirming the accident, the state commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Olatunji Henry Sunday in a telephone interview attributed the accident to either overspeeding or dangerous overtaking on the part of the driver of the bus. Already, the driver of the SUV, with registration number FW 97 LND which knocked down the school kids has been arrested.
The children were on their way to school when the accident occurred. It was gathered that they were crossing the road at the Saint Andrews’ Bus Stop at the Mile One, Diobu axis of Ikwerre Road when the SUV hit them. They were said to be pupils of Orominieke Primary School, D-Line in the state capital.
The wounded child was immediately rushed to the hospital while the bodies of the dead have been deposited at the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (BMH) in Port Harcourt.
When contacted, Police spokesperson in the state, Dr. Rita Inoma-Abbey (SP) confirmed the accident and the arrest of the driver. She said that the wounded girl was still unconscious as at press time.
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