Christopher Oji
The euphoria of Christmas season was brought to a halt this morning in Ubulu – Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State as a truck rammed into some shops in a popular daily market, killing one person and injuring two others.
The truck, with registration number AKL 383 XA, whose driver was coming from Ogwashi – Uku axis, heading for Isele – Uku, lost control at the Isele-Uku junction, Idimu Osunme and rammed into blocks of shops in the popular Afianta market.
The truck crushed a popular female scavenger, Ekpele, who was having her breakfast, injuring two others who were rushed to the hospital.
A witness, Bewebiluenu, said: “I was standing opposite the market when I saw Ekpele, eating bread with a bottle of soft drink. It was around 8 am; I was then in the open space. Then I saw a fuel tanker driving dangerously and all of a sudden, it lost control and ran into the line of shops where Ekpele was eating. I knew that there was a danger as I knew that Ekpele was gone. My fear was that many people would have died. We all ran to the scene; we saw Ekpele under the truck and saw two others bleeding.
“We sent distress calls to the police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).The officials and the police came to the scene and discovered that one person died while two persons were injured. Even though we lost one person, we are still thanking God that the accident happened at about 7.45 am, because if it had happened around 10 am, many people would have died as many people used to converge on the line of shops in the area.”
Mrs Uzo whose shop was pulled down by the truck, was praising God for sparing her life and those of her children. “I thank God that my family was not yet in the shop before the accident occurred. If we had arrived at the shop on time, none of us would have survived. I thank God for sparing my family.”
A road safety official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “I can only tell you that one person died and two people injured.
“We are taking the body to the mortuary while the injured have been taken to the hospital.
“The good thing is that the truck has already discharged the fuel it was carrying as it would have caught fire.
“I cannot tell you the cause of the accident. It may have been caused by brake failure, drunkenness, over speeding or any other factor. “Investigation will prove the real cause. The driver of the vehicle is in police protective custody for now.”
A patrol vehicle was manning the scene to protect the vehicle from being set ablaze by the angry mob that was protesting what they claimed was an avoidable accident.
John Chukwuka said: “We were happy that we celebrated Christmas without any bad happenings.
“But today, this reckless truck driver has brought sorrow in the land.
“The woman that died was a hard-working woman who has three kids. How do we break the news to the children?
“We had a programme at the scene of the accident the previous day. We drank and threw away some cans; that was what Ekpele, the scavenger went to pick. But at some point, she decided to eat when the unexpected happened. “We are appealing to the local government authority to erect speed breakers on the road to avoid over speeding by drivers.”