Five persons, including a female child, lost their lives while 12 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a lone road accident along the Nkalagu axis of the Enugu–Abakaliki Federal Highway in Ebonyi State on Friday.
The Ebonyi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Daniel Asanya, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Abakaliki.
According to him, the accident occurred at Edema Bridge in Nkalagu, Ishielu Local Government Area, involving a commercial white Toyota Hiace bus with registration number RSH 231 XE travelling from Abakaliki to Enugu.
Asanya said the vehicle was conveying 17 passengers comprising 12 males, four females and one female child.
“The crash claimed the lives of five persons, four males and one female child while 12 others, comprising eight males and four females, sustained injuries,” he said.
The FRSC commander attributed the accident to excessive speed, noting that preliminary investigations identified speed violation as the cause of the crash.
He added that items recovered from the scene included three mobile phones, two bags containing personal effects and a quarter bag of rice.
He noted that the injured victims were evacuated to Annunciation Hospital, Emene, Enugu State, for treatment, while the bodies of the deceased were deposited in a morgue.
Asanya urged motorists to exercise caution, especially along sections of the Enugu–Abakaliki highway currently undergoing construction and maintenance.
He also called on the construction company handling the project to install adequate reflective and illuminated warning signs to alert road users to ongoing work and enhance safety on the highway.
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