Tragedy struck at Sakponba Road, Benin City, Edo State capital, on Tuesday morning when a motor accident claimed the lives of no fewer than nine persons.
According to eye-witnesses, a tipper bearing sand lost control and collided with two minibuses filled with commuters at Ogbelaka Junction along Sakponba Road.
Some vehicles coming behind the affected vehicles struggled to avoid the collision and in the process nearly ran over the Bureau de Change operators in the vicinity.
It was gathered that the accident occurred when the tipper was trying to overtake another tipper, but could not do so fast enough to avoid on coming minibuses.
The impact of the collision killed many of the passengers of the minibuses instantly.
The mishap led to untold hardship for commuters as the exit routes to Asoro Street, Eri and Ogbelaka were completely blocked. Residents had to resort to trekking.
Eye-witnesses claimed they counted nine corpses at the scene, but the Edo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Bello Kontongs, put the casualty figure at four.
Kontongs said: “It involved a truck coming from Upper Sakponba that lost control and ran into a white bus killing three people on the spot while one died on the way to the hospital. The injured victims have been rushed to the hospital for treatment.”
