No fewer than 19 people were killed on Wednesday on Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway in multiple accidents involving commercial vehicles.
The accidents occurred almost concurrently along the major highway on Ezilo axis of Ishielu council area and 135 Ezzamgbo in Ohaukwu council area. Some drivers also died.
Though the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) could not confirm the number of casualties, one of the survivors, who identified himself simply as Ezekiel, told newsmen that the accidents occurred when the driver of a white bus which took off from Awka and heading to Abakaliki tried to overtake another vehicle.
He blamed the driver of the bus he was traveling in for reckless driving, adding that the accident would have been avoided if the driver heeded warnings from passengers.
Ezekiel said the driver tried to overtake the Sienna when another bus coming from Abakaliki on high speed was approaching.
He recalled both drivers lost control of their vehicles and there was a head-on collision.
Shortly after the accident, residents of Abakaliki and its environs whose relatives travelled along the Enugu-Onistsha Expressway besieged the accident and emergency unit of the Federal Teaching Hospital where most of them were referred to the mortuary to check for their missing relations.
