A double accident at Ogwashi-Uku Junction in Aniocha South Local Government Area, Delta State, have left nine people dead and several others injured.
The tragic sequence of events began with an initial accident that resulted in the death of two individuals. As sympathisers gathered at the scene to offer assistance, the situation escalated dramatically with another vehicle, Sienna bus losing control and smashing into the crowd of sympathizers.
According to an witness, this secondary impact allegedly led to the death of seven more people.
Several other individuals, mainly from the sympathizers sustained varying degrees of injury.
Another eyewitness, a clergyman identified simply as Rev. Kingsley, described the crashes as gruesome. “I encountered the scene at about 9:30 p.m…. blood from the victims’ bodies stained the ground,” he stated.
The incident has sparked outrage and grief within the community, with many residents labelling the deaths as avoidable.
They pointed to critical lapses in traffic management and a lack of timely emergency response as factors that allowed the initial crash to spiral into a major catastrophe.
“If there were proper traffic management and timely intervention, this wouldn’t have escalated into such a calamity,” one eyewitness claimed.
However, official accounts from the FRSC appear to conflict with eyewitness reports. When contacted, the Delta State Sector Public Enlightenment Officer, Superintendent Route Commander (SRC) Patrick Obiagbo, stated, “The accident we know of happened between Ogwashi-Uku and Issele-Azagba involving a truck and transporter’s vehicle.”
Obiagbo emphasised that unless there was a separate, unreported crash elsewhere, the FRSC had no official record of any fatalities at the Ogwashi-Uku junction.”