14 Assemblies of God Church members Perish in Ebonyi Auto Crash

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News From The State Sunday, August 9th, 2015

BY IGNATIUS OKPARA, Abakaliki – No fewer than 14 persons lost their lives in a ghastly auto crash that occurred on Saturday at Amasiri Secondary School junction, along Afikpo-Okigwe road in Ebonyi state, Federal Road Safety Commission FRSC, in the area has confirmed.

Disclosing this on sunday FRSC Commander, in charge of Afikpo unit Mr. Roland Ogbuke, said that the accident involved an articulated vehicle and a 14-seater bus.

According to him, the bus was conveying members of the Assemblies of God Church, Isu in Ohaoazara Local Government Area, who were returning from a burial.

“We received a distress call on Saturday and immediately mobilised my rescue officers to the scene of the incident.

“We are not sure of the cause of the accident, but an eye witness told us that the articulated vehicle was trying to dodge a heap of sand on the road and ended up hitting the oncoming vehicle.

According to him, “the impact of the hit by the articulated vehicle threw the bus to a tree some metres away from the road and squeezed it into some zero shape that mangled bodies of the occupants.

“We had to mobilise a nearby quarry company which used its heavy duty machine to cut the tree and the bus, in order to evacuate the mangled bodies of the passengers,” he said.

He stated that the crushed passengers were mostly women, hinting that their family members, the police and church members, who were in other vehicles, assisted the FRSC personnel in the evacuation exercise.