TRAGEDY IN ENUGU AS OIL TANKER CRUSHES WOMAN TO DEATH
Reporter : CHRISTIAN NWANGENE
TRAGEDY IN ENUGU AS OIL TANKER CRUSHES WOMAN TO DEATH
Reporter : CHRISTIAN NWANGENE
The dead body of a young woman who was trapped under a petrol tanker at the Abakpa bridge, Nike, Enugu East Local Government Area, has been evacuated.
The woman met her untimely death Saturday morning after the petro tanker while descending the Abakpa bridgehead, after Mami Market, lost control and rammed into buses, and tricycles on the busy road, pulled off from the head before falling into a ditch.
An eyewitness, Mr. Jude Oguadinma, who is a commercial bus driver and whose vehicle was badly affected, told Radio Nigeria that on trying to make a u-turn to bypass the traffic on the road, he saw the speed the vehicle was descending the hill, it was there that he noticed that all was not right and he made his way out of the bus.
He said the truck smashed the conductor’s side of the bus.
Another eye witness, Mr. Ebuka Ekwueme, also said that he observed the tanker descending with speed while the traffic was on, noting that more people would have been crushed if not for God’s intervention.
Radio Nigeria gathered that the tanker was heading for the T-junction, Abakpa to discharge the substance before the incident occurred.
Meanwhile, personnel of the Enugu State Fire Service and that of the Federal Fire Service were on ground to ensure that the petroleum product was successfully transloaded into another truck to allow evacuation of the lady trapped under the truck.
Reacting, the Chairman of Enugu East Local Government, Mr. Alex Ugwu, blamed the incident on a commercial tricycle rider popularly known as Keke .
Mr. Ugwu, explained that while in the process of trying to avoid the keke operator, the tanker lost its break.
According to Mr. Ugwu, on receiving the information, he immediately contacted the authorities of the Enugu State Fire Service and that of the Federal Fire Service, who mobilised to the scene and ensured that the substance was successfully transferred to another vehicle.
Meanwhile, Enugu State Governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who also visited the scene, left without saying anything.
The Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mrs. Nkechi Eneh, was also at the scene.
The Enugu State Government, through SEMA and the State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure provided a crane for the removal of the vehicle, and reopening of the road to reduce vehicular traffic.
The incident shut down the ever busy Abakpa as youths of the area mobilised themselves to maintain orderliness on the road.