Out of the 15 passengers in the bus, only two
survived. The rest died. It was gruesome. There was a baby and a
nine-year-old boy among the dead, according to a hospital source. The
first, a two-year-old girl, was traveling with his father. The boy
might have traveled with another adult. They all perished in the
accident. Their bodies mangled with the body of the bus. “Blood flowed
like river that day,” said the hospital staff.
“It was a tragedy; I have
never seen such a gory scene since I was born. The head of the driver
was ripped open and one could see the brain from up. The crowd of people
who besieged the scene of the crash was large. People wept like babies.
Even some doctors could not bear the sight and ran away. It was a black
Sunday morning.”
The ghastly auto crash happened at the Umuahia end of the Enugu/ Port
Harcourt Expressway, precisely at the Ofeme Junction. It involved a
MAN-Diesel engine truck, with registration number Plateau JJN 782 XB
and a 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus, with registration number, AKL 895 YA,
belonging to Peace Mass Transport company.
The accident, which occurred last Sunday, according to the people at
the scene, was the worst in recent times. It was ghastly with
heartrending rebounds. According to the hospital staff, “One lady was
at the hospital the previous day in search of her daughter who bade
them good bye that morning before she departed for her school at Enugu.
We advised her to visit the mortuary. On her arrival there, she found
her daughter among the corpses deposited there. She was devastated and
could not believe it was true”. It was as bad as that!
It had been reported that all the 15 passengers in the bus died only
for people to discover that two among them survived. One of the
survivors is Mrs. Chidinma Eze, a 32-year-old widow and businesswoman
from Ubakala in Abia State. She is based in Port Harcourt. The other
survivor is a 33-year-old dealer in cosmetics, based in Aba.
Speaking to Saturday Sun at the Federal Medical Center,
Umuahia where she is recuperating, Chidinma, who sells diesel said that
the bus loaded at Peace Mass Transit Central park in Aba and headed for
Enugu.
“I live in Port Harcourt, but I had to come out to join the bus
because I could not catch a direct bus going to Lokpanta where I do my
diesel business. I was trying to catch sleep when the accident happened.
Our bus crashed into the trailer head-on and the people inside the bus
started screaming; some calling the name of Jesus, others calling their
fathers and mothers. I think I fainted because I became conscious on
the way to the hospital. When the Federal Road Safety Corps officials
were taking us to the hospital, I had regained consciousness, but I did
not open my eyes because I was feeling pains all over my body.”
She confirmed that there were 15 passengers inside the bus and the
windows of the bus were shut because the air-conditioner was on. It was
also raining heavily at the time . “Immediately the bus crashed into
that trailer, I lost consciousness. Whether the bus sommersalted or not,
I didnot know. I can’t even remember the side through which I was
brought out. All I can remember is that I was on the back seat with
three other passengers.
“We had passed Abia Tower and heading to Okigwe. The driver was
driving on a very high speed inside the rain. We entered the bus about
9am, but I did not check the time when we arrived at the spot where the
accident occured,” she narrated.
Meanwhile, Chidinma was full of gratitude to God for saving her life:
“I can’t thank God enough. If human beings were the ones that select
those who died in that accident, definitely, I would have been one of
them. But just look at me, a poor sinner and God, in His infinite mercy,
decided to save my life. God gave me life on top of life; brought me
back from the land of the dead. You could see children, the elderly, the
young and the handsome and beautiful, all stone dead. But God decided
to keep me. It amazes me each time I look back at my life. I will remain
grateful to God for the rest of my life.”
The second survivor, Nwodo, was traveling from Aba to his hometown,
Akpugo, Enugu State. He had informed his parents that he was coming to
see them that morning and they had even prepared a meal for him..
He boarded the bus to Enugu but it crashed in Umuahia. He had been
counted among the dead and was taken inside the pick-up van belonging
to the FRSC that took the corpses to the hospital. Nwodo was lying among
of the dead when suddenly, at the intensive care unit of the hospital,
he moved his body. Immediately, he was removed ftom the heap of corpses
inside the van and rushed into the ward for medical attention.
When Saturday Sun visited the hospital, he was sleeping. It was said that he could not speak as he was badly wounded from his waist downwards.
A hospital source told Saturday Sun that initially, he
could not breathe well until they inserted a pipe inside him to drain
bad blood out of his body . “The blood that was coming out of him was
very black, now, the color is changing gradually.”
Emmanuel, his younger brother, who was with
him in the hospital,
said that one of the doctors called and informed him that his brother
was involved in an accident and he came to see him.
“I am very happy because the information that was given to them was
that everybody died in the accident except two people. I thank God that
my brother is among the two survivors. I thank God who knows the reason
why he brought him back to life; this is somebody who had already been
counted among the dead.
“The doctor told me that he has injury in his spinal cord and on the head.
Four victims were brought into the hospital alive, but two died afterwards.
Among those who died was Obidiegwu Udogu, the first son of Chief
Donald Udogu (SAN), an Aba-based legal practitioner. Tragically too, he
died with his two-year-old daughter, Jasmine.
A relation told Saturday Sun that Obidiegwu left home that
morning with his two-year-old daughter to see his mother in-law who
resides in Enugu. Unfortunately, both the father and child did not
arrive their destination safely. It was also learnt that the remains of
the little girl were buried on Wednesday, while “the family would meet
later to decide when Obidiegwu will be buried”.