Accident On Highway

                       

A 14-seater bus with registration number Nasarawa, HAM 20 XA belonging to “Pleasure Travels” bus number (485) was, on Saturday, involved in an accident with a Mercedes Benz Trailer loaded with alcohol, (Hero beer) at Udeyi, Guma local government area of Benue state.

A passenger, Magdalene Agigea, who sustained deep injuries on her face and on her right hand, said the driver of the bus driver was reckless.

“Since we began the journey from Abuja, the driver has been reckless and arrogant to most of us,” she said. “I had intended to lodge a complaint to his superiors in Makurdi, before the unfortunate incident occurred, but thank God I survived. I sat close to the door, that is why glasses cut my face and hand.”

However, the driver of the said bus, Iyinhemba Iorfa, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, denied the claim of the passenger, saying his brake failed.

“It is not true, as you can see, a trailer failed in a bend. I applied the brake twice, but it failed, I had to manoeuvre to the bush, and there was a deep ditch, the bus then somersaulted,” Mr. Iorfa said.

The passengers who were travelling from Abuja to Obudu, Cross River state for Easter, sustained various degrees of injuries. No death was recorded.

Witnesses said the Mercedes Benz trailer had fallen in a sharp bend about two hours before the Pleasure Travel bus accident occurred.

The driver of the trailer could not be reached, as witnesses said he had left the scene.

As at the time PREMIUM TIMES visited the scene, no police nor official of the Federal Road Safety Commissioner FRSC personnel was present at the scene.

Passer-bys and motorists assisted victims of the accident to various hospitals in Markurdi, as there was no medical facility close to the scene of the accident.