Four persons reportedly died in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, on Tuesday in an accident on the Aba River Bridge in Ogbor-Hill.
It was gathered that the accident occurred when a trailer conveying a 40-foot container, descending from Ogbor-Hill, lost control after a brake failure and collided with two vehicles at the top of the Aba River Bridge.
A similar accident on the Aba River had led to the relocation of the abattoir in the area popularly known as Ahia-Udele. The recent accident is the first since the relocation of the market.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that the vehicle, while descending from Opobo-Junction along Aba Ikot-Ekepe Highway, was swerving uncontrollably and unfortunately met another spoilt trailer on top of the bridge. In the process of trying to avoid the trailer, it collided with a Siena car and another stationary vehicle which it fell on, killing and injuring many.
Efforts to reach men of the Federal Road Safety Commission at the scene of the accident proved abortive as they quickly moved away from the scene when the anger of the Aba public was growing following their failure to bring a crane to lift the container to rescue victims trapped under the container.
It was gathered that about three hours after the accident, there was no towing van or crane present at the scene of the accident to remove the container.
An eyewitness, Mr Ikenna Nzekwe, said he is still surprised that both the Abia State Government and the Federal Government have not thought it wise to construct a flyover across the bridge to decongest traffic from Uyo, Ikot-Ekepe into the commercial city of Aba.
He said, “We need a final solution to the reccurring accident on this bridge.
“This thing happened two years ago, it happened three years ago, it equally happened before the market was relocated, is it not obvious that this hill is too dangerous for a straight road? How can we continue to allow our people to die like this?
“When will the government understand that these heavy-duty vehicles shouldn’t be on the road in the daytime? When will government agencies learn to remove spoilt vehicles on the road to save lives? These are issues we should be focusing on.”
Another eyewitness who identified himself as Anayo Ihueze said, “This is a preventable accident, but see how it went. There’s no single rescue effort. All those rescued were pulled out by concerned Aba residents who came together to save lives.
“I was part of the citizens that rescued three parents hear today, one with her legs completely damaged, one seriously injured and the other unhurt. In all these, we only saw the Fire Service who didn’t have much role.
“The soldiers and police seem to be interested in the security, maintenance of law and order and securing goods inside the container. The FRSC came with nothing except their Hilux. What kind of a country is this?”
Meanwhile, while some other residents were rescuing trapped persons, some hoodlums tried to steal some of the fairly used imported clothes inside the container but were confronted by brave residents who resisted and intercepted them.
SOURCE: PUNCH
