Nine persons on their way to a wedding ceremony died on Saturday in an accident at Ekpon Junction on Agbor-Ewohimi Road in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State.
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that the victims were travelling from Benin city to Ewatto in Esan South-East Local Government Area of the state to attend a wedding ceremony of their friend and relation.
Just by Ekpon Junction, a few kilometres to their destination, it was further gathered that the bus conveying them collided with a trailer carrying cement to the South-Eastern part of Nigeria and the nine guests died on the spot.
Eyewitnesses disclosed that the remains of the deceased passengers had been taken to the mortuary while the only survivor, a young boy of about 15 years, was said to be in the intensive care in a hospital.
Most of the deceased guests were said to have hailed from Ewatto in Edo state.
The Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Edo Command, Henry Benemesia, who confirmed the incident to newsmen said the victims were on their way to a wedding ceremony before the accident took place.
“The deceaseds’ were in a bus from Benin to Ewatto in Edo for the wedding of their yet-to-be-ascertained friend/relative.
“Unfortunately, their vehicle had a collision with an articulated vehicle loaded with bags of cement heading to the South-east.
“Five persons died on the spot while others passed away on the way to the hospital.
“The corpses of the victims have been deposited at the morgue of an undisclosed hospital in Edo,” he said.
He, however, said that one of the survivors, a 15-year-old boy was receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the health facility.