Scores Injured As Bus Chased Off-road By Bullion Van Crashes In Abia

Many people were, yesterday, injured, some of them critically, as an 18-seater hummer bus crashed in Abia after losing control on the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.

The incident occurred near the Ohiya Mechanic Village around 2:00 in the afternoon.

According to an eyewitness account, the bus which loaded at Abia Tower Junction, Umuahia, (less than one kilometre from the scene of the accident), was driving to the commercial city of Aba when a bullion van and the escort vehicle on its convoy, allegedly chased the bus out of the highway.

Consequently, the driver lost control as the vehicle skidded off the road and somersaulted into the median of the double-carriage expressway.

“The convoy of the bullion van did not even stop but continued moving towards Aba”, one of the bystanders at the scene told Sunday Vanguard.

When Vanguard Correspondent arrived at the scene, the wreckage of the blue bus with registration number KTU 503 YE, was seen with blood stains on parts of the vehicle and the ground.

The driver was said to be unconscious and had been evacuated to the hospital along with other passengers who sustained various degrees of injuries.

Some personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps later arrived on the scene to assist in the rescue efforts and to help direct traffic.

When contacted, the Sector Commander, FRSC, Abia State, Mr Paul Ugwu said his men had been deployed to the scene to help rescue the situation.

The FRSC boss said that the police would be contacted so that a full investigation would be launched on the cause of the crash.