A passenger of an ill-fated commercial vehicle, Victor Ernest, lost his life on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, after an aged tree fell on the bus along the Calabar Murtala Mohammed highway, Cross River State.
Aside from the deceased, four other people, including the driver of the mini-bus, survived various degrees of injuries.
According to an eyewitness, who was plying that route at the time of the incident, the tree split into two before smashing the moving bus around 10:15 am near the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) headquarters.
It was gathered that motorists, who witnessed the incident, rushed the critically injured driver and the passenger whose head was smashed, to University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), where the latter was confirmed dead.
Two market women and a young man in his 30s, however, survived the accident with minor injuries.
Onlookers and witnesses at the scene of the accident sympathised with the victims. They, therefore, called on the relevant state government agencies to look into the numerous trees aligning the highway to consider cutting off aged ones.
Operations Officer, Cross River State Vehicle Inspection Officer (VIO), Akak Eyo, has confirmed the incident, identifying the deceased as a staff at the UCTH.
In a related development, four injured people have been hospitalised following an accident that involved a container-laden truck, a pick-up van and a motorcycle in the Maryland-Jibowu area, by Anthony Bridge, Lagos State.
The multiple crash reportedly occurred after the truck suffered a brake failure and the driver lost control, causing the bike rider and the van to collide with it.
Confirming the incident, Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Babatunde Farinloye, said the injured persons were two females and two males.