
lokpanta accident scene,
Police arrest truck driver for crushing bus, killing 3, injuring 5

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

Lokpanta accident scene

Abia State Police Command has comformed the arrest of a truck driver who crushed three persons to death early Thursday morning at Lekwesi Umuchieze in Umunneochi Local Governmet Area of the state.
35-year-old driver, Mr. Amaechi Chucks Nwankwo, the drive. of a Macktruck, with. Registration Number KGE 22, was said to have lost control while descending on a slope and crashed into a stationary 18-passenger bus, killing some of the passengers on the spot.
Earlier but unconfirmed reports said the bus was stopped at a Police checkpoint where the Mack truck, having lost control, rammed into it and killed the driver and all the passengers.
The report said an irate mob gathered at the scene, calling for the head of the Policeman who was manning the checkpoint.
But the Police. Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Maureen Chilaka, said in a statement in Umuahia that two passengers died on the spot, while one of those rushed to hospital was confirmed dead, bringing the official death toll to three.
The PPRO’s statement reads in part: “On 15/05/2024 at about 22:30hrs, the Isuochi Police Divisional Headquarters received a report of a fatal motor accident along Port Harcourt-Enugu Expressway, near Lekwesi Umuchieze in Umunneochi LGA of Abia State.
“Investigation into the incident revealed that at about 19:45hrs, a Mack truck with registration number KGE 22, driven by Amaechi Chucks Nwankwo, a 35-year-old male from Obowo, Imo State, lost control while descending a slope at the aforementioned location and destroyed two military barricades which he wanted to use as a wedge to stop the truck.
He (the driver) eventually got to the third, which is the police checkpoint at that location, but collided with a stationary bus, resulting in the death of two passengers and injuring five others.
“The injured victims were taken to Christ the King Hospital at Ngodo Isuochi. Sadly, one of the injured persons, whose identity is yet to be known, was confirmed dead.”
“The accident vehicle has been pulled out of the ditch and the driver is in our custody. Normalcy has been restored to the area, but monitoring efforts continue as the investigation is ongoing,” the statement concluded.
She said the corpses of the dead passengers have been deposited in the mortuary, adding that the patients who were admitted have been treated and discharged.