No fewer than three persons reportedly lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident in Enugu multiple auto accidents.
The incident occurred at the Ugwu Onyeama hills axis of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway at the weekend.
The crash involved many vehicles, including a black Toyota Sienna bus conveying journalists who were reportedly on an official assignment to Igbo-Etiti Local Council in Enugu State.
The affected journalists included Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) reporter, Chimaroke Ugwu; the cameraman, Jerry; as well as African Independent Television (AIT) reporter, Kelechi Ehirim, and his cameraman, Ifeanyi Ogbodo sustained varying degrees of injury.
Identities of the deceased persons were yet to be confirmed as of the time of filing this report. However, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and police were at the scene carrying out rescue operations.
The Onyeama Hills stretch of the highway is widely regarded as a high-risk zone due to its steep terrain and frequent accidents. Road users have been subjected to one lane of the highway following ongoing reconstruction on one side of the road.
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, who inspected the extent of work on the lane last week, had directed the contractor to reopen the road before Easter to help reduce the level of carnage and traffic being experienced on the lane opened to movement.
Efforts to speak with the Sector Commander of FRSC, Enugu, Franklin Onyekwelu, on the incident yesterday proved abortive as he did not pick calls to his mobile phone line.
However, reacting to the incident, Chairman, Nigeria Union of journalists (NUJ), Enugu Council, Obinna Ogbuka, sympathised with NUJ members who sustained various degrees of injury and thanked God for saving their lives.
Ogbuka, while expressing dissatisfaction over the repeated loss of lives at Ugwu Onyeama, called for speedy completion of the ongoing reconstruction work on the road to reduce further incidents.
“Authorities are expected to provide further details as investigations into the cause of the crash is still ongoing,” he said.
