Vehicles crush 20 pupils in Anambra, C’River

A Toyota Camry lost control on Thursday
and ran into some secondary school
pupils at the Umuokpu Junction along
the old Onitsha-Enugu Expressway,
Awka, Anambra State.
The victims were mostly pupils of the
Community Secondary School,
Umuokpu, and Union Secondary School,
Amawbia.
No fewer than seven of them were
feared dead, while 10 others were
critically injured in the accident.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the pupils
had just closed from school and were
waiting by the side of the road to catch
transportation home when the car ran
into them.
One of the victims, an old man, had his
right leg broken, his right eyes cut open,
while a whitish substance oozed out of
his forehead.
One of the pupils feared dead in the
accident had her head crushed. The
unnamed pupil, who was said to be of
Union Secondary School, laid lifeless on
the road when PUNCH Metro visited the
area.
Another victim was trapped under a
commercial bus that tried to avoid
colliding with the Toyota Camry.
The car also rammed into the people
selling fruits and recharge cards and left
several traders injured.
Sympathisers were seen trying to rescue
the victims. In the confusion, the driver
of the car, who also sustained injury,
was seen as he climbed out of the
mangled car, crossed to the other side
of the road and took a cab away from
the scene.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety
Corps arrived 20 minutes after the
accident, but the victims had been
taken to nearby hospitals. The FRSC
officials later towed the car away.
The Anambra State Sector Commander
of the FRSC, Mr. Hyginus Omeje, said, "I
am aware of the accident. I am,
however, waiting for my men to give
methe full details of what happened."
In a related development, a seven-year
old pupil, Gideon Patrick, of Atimbo
Primary School in Calabar Municipal
Council Area of Cross River State was on
Wednesday crushed by a truck while
returning from school.
A witness said, "The truck was climbing
Atimbo hill when it lost control and hit
Patrick before ramming into a nearby
building, knocking down two other
pupils."
The duo, David Onoyom and Daniel
Emmanuel Ekanem, became unconscious
and were rushed to the hospital.
It was learnt that the driver of the truck
was immediately arrested by naval
officers. A part of the building was also
destroyed.
A police team, led by the State Traffic
Commander, Mr. Ojo Joseph, later
arrived at the scene to maintain law and
order.