Autocrash claims family of seven in Enugu, five others in Niger

Enugu State Police Command has confirmed the death of a family of seven in an autocrash which occurred at Ugwu-Onyeama on the Enugu-Onitsha expressway on Sunday morning.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, said it occurred about 8 a.m on the Enugu axis of the expressway.
Amaraizu said the accident involved a Toyota Camry with registration number CM960FKJ and a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number ENU75YY, belonging to a mass transit company.
He said that the two vehicles that were on top speed collided in one lane of the expressway.
According to him, seven passengers in the Toyota car who are members of the same family and one other from the bus lost their lives in the accident.
The police spokesperson said that their bodies had been deposited in the mortuary of the Enugu State University of Teaching Hopsital, (ESUTH), Parklane.
He said four others sustained injuries in the crash and were receiving medical attention at the same hospital while investigation into the incident had commenced.
In a related development, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Niger State said that five people were killed in an accident on Saturday along Lambata Kwakuti Road in Gurara Local Government Area.
FRSC Sector Commander, Mr Yusuf Garba, who disclosed this in Minna on Sunday, said that the accident involved a car and a truck.
He said the accident involved a white colour BMW with registration number BWR 264 SR and a Scana truck with registration number ISR 16 XU.
The sector commander said that all five occupants of the BMW died, adding that his men evacuated them to the Suleja General Hospital.
According to him, the cause of the accident is over-speeding and dangerous overtaking.
He said that FRSC would continue to monitor road users to guard against overloading and dangerous driving.
Garba also called on road users to adhere to traffic rules and regulations to avoid unnecessary road crashes.
“We have already embarked on a 24-hour patrol on all the federal highways to ensure safety of road users by enforcing traffic rules and regulations,” he said.
He also appealed to residents in the state to promptly report road accidents to enable patrol officers to save lives.