Cow laden truck rams into waiting vehicles, kills drivers, passengers as youths set lorry on fire

According to eye witnesses, the lorry, with registration number ‘Plateau JJNN-59YZ’ lost control and rammed into more than five cars waiting for traffic light.

Unconfirmed reports also said that pedestrians, including those doing brisk businesses at the traffic point were said to be among those that lost their lives, while some occupants of the vehicles involved also lost their lives.

About five cars involved in the mishap were damaged beyond repair, while bodies of the dead and injured were taken away by men of the Anambra State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.

There was no confirmed report on the accurate number of persons involved in the tragedy, but irate youths had already set the lorry ablaze, alongside many cattle aboard it.

The youths refused attempt by the Anambra State Fire Service to put out the fire on the truck.

Later, military personnel were mobilized to disperse the youths, who stopped attempts to tow the truck off the road to make way for free flow of traffic.

The shooting caused residents and even motorists to abandon their vehicles on the road and scampered for safety.

Security agents including men of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Security were seen at the accident spot trying to stop possible criminal activities.

The incident also caused serious gridlock along the affected side of the crash, with many road users trapped for hours waiting for the fire to be put out.

Men of the Anambra Fire Service also later arrived at the scene escorted by security agents in a bid to extinguish the fire.

Attempts to get interviews from both eyewitnesses and voluntary emergency workers at the scene were turned down.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu confirmed the incident but could not confirm casualty figures.