The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has confirmed the dead of one person while 16 other sustained injures in a commercial bus accident along Onitsha-Owerri road in Anambra .
The incident, which happened on Wednesday at about 1 p.m., took place at one of the bends of the road at Oraifite community within Ekwusigo LGA.
Mr Daniel Asoanya, Commander, FRSC Ihiala Unit told newsmen that the driver lost control of the vehicle at the bend.
Asoanya noted that the bus conductor dead at the stop of the scene when the vehicle landed up top of him after it somersaulted.
“It was not tyre burst or mechanical fault but the incident could be blamed on over-speeding.
“The driver lost control of the 18-seater bus and it veered off the road and somersaulted,’’ he said.
Asoanya noted that the officers and men of the unit responded swiftly by taking the passengers and the driver to nearby Evens Specialist Hospital, Ozubulu.
“They are responding to treatment and I believe that within some hours those not seriously injured would continue their journey,’’ he said.
On the “Operation Octopus’’, the commander said that the campaign was successful in reducing the number of crashes per week in the road especially in Ihiala unit operation areas that it centred on in Anambra.
It would be recalled that “Operation Octopus’, which commenced in November, was part of efforts of the commission to reduce road crashes in six major roads in the country, which included the Onitsha-Owerri road.
Asoanya said that the road had witnessed increased surveillance and checks; adding: “It has imbibed more consciousness among drivers plying the road’’.
“It had made the officers and men of the unit more alert even with extended working hours in order to achieve the objective of the campaign.
“We are grateful to the Corps Marshal, Chief Osita Chidoka, for selecting the road and providing support for the success of the campaign,’’ he added.
