Burnt Beyond Recognition, 13 Dead

Thirteen persons, including children, were on Sunday afternoon burnt beyond recognition in a bus accident which occurred in Effurun, Delta.

The accident, which involved an 18-seater bus, also left five of its passengers with various degrees of burn injuries.

An eyewitness told newsmen that the vehicle was coming from the PTI roundabout, but stopped to pick a passenger who allegedly carried a jerrycan filled with petrol.

One of the survivors, Mr Martins Nwaowolo, said there were 18 passengers in the bus, including children and a pregnant woman.

”The driver stopped at the roundabout to pick a woman carrying a jerrycan, and in less than two minutes after the woman entered the bus, the jerrycan burst into flame.

”Only myself, the driver, his conductor, a pregnant woman and one other survived the incident, but with various degree of burns,” he said.

However, the Delta Commissioner for Transport, Mr Ben Igbakpa, who visited the scene, said that it was wrong for people to be moving about with petrol.

Igbakpa, however, described the incident as unfortunate.

“It means that we have to do a lot of monitoring and public enlightenment on the hazards of carrying inflammable substances into a vehicle,” he said.

Meanwhile, men of the Nigerian Police, Army and Road Safety Corps were seen busy evacuating the victims from the burning bus.