19 DIE IN CALABAR AUTO CRASH

No fewer than 19 persons, including the drivers of a bus and truck,
were killed in an auto crash along the deplorable Calabar-Itu highway
on Wednesday night when an Onitsha-bound bus collided with two
trucks.
The accident, according to an eyewitness, Peace Monday, occurred at
about 9pm when a bus, belonging to Cross-Link, conveying 18
passengers from Calabar, was descending the Obot Isong slope, close
to the bridge.
Monday said, "The truck was on top speed, and overtook the bus right
on the bridge on the right side and since the bridge is narrow, this
forced the bus towards the lane of oncoming vehicles. A truck was
coming from the Akwa Ibom end of the road.
"The driver of the oncoming truck with number plate Akwa Ibom NGD 01
XA, also on top speed, could not stop or control his truck to allow
the bus to pass through the space on the bridge and so the truck ran
over the bus killing everybody except one lucky passenger who
sustained severe injuries.
"The truck that overtook the bus tore through the railings and plunged
into the river.
"The driver and the conductor were removed from under the bridge dead
but two other conductors, who sat behind the truck on the chippings
sustained serious injuries because they were flunged very far from the
truck to the bush.