Malik Yahya/
Details have emerged on how an automobile accident in Abuja claimed the lives of a man and his wife along with their three children on Christmas Day.
The 42-year-old man, identified as Samson Adetunji Alowe, was driving his family in his Toyota Highlander SUV along Kubwa expressway when the accident occurred close to EFAB Estate junction around 9 pm.
The other victims were identified as Opeyemi (40), Angel (12), Prosper (10) and Fortune (8).
He reportedly lost control of the vehicle after which it skidded off the road and burst into flames.
Efforts by firefighters and personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), who tried to rescue the victims, proved futile.
NewsmakersNG learnt that the burnt remains of the victims were retrieved from the wreckage and deposited at the Kubwa General Hospital.
A Facebook user, Emeka V. Obi, who claimed to have witnessed the accident and also took part in the unsuccessful efforts to rescue the victims, gave a vivid account of the accident.
He said he didn’t realise who the victims were at the time until he saw a Facebook post by one of his online friends mourning them.
Read his account below:
The incident occurred at about past 9 pm on Christmas day at EFAB estate junction, Kubwa expressway.
I was driving towards Kubwa when I saw the very huge and massive inferno on the other side coming from Suleja. I reached Kubwa and turned back to the accident spot. I never knew that persons, occupants of the vehicle were trapped inside.
Eyewitness report that there was a loss of control of the vehicle, Toyota Highlander; it skidded off the road at the EFAB estate junction on Kubwa expressway coming from Suleja into town. It skidded into the separating gutter between the main expressway and service lane.
There was a struggle to stop the car as it kept on moving, apparently, the fuel tank may have been broken as it hit the boulder/pillar supporting the overhead bridge and instantly went up in a massive inferno.
The little girl upon impact was thrown out of the vehicle into the space between the pillar and service lane; she struggled to get up but the fuel-laden inferno reached her. The rest were trapped in the ensuing massive inferno.
Fire service responded quickly to put out the inferno but it was too late. FRSC came with a crane, pulled out the wreckage and we, passersby, joined them in the rescue efforts. We first retrieved the little girl’s body and thereafter the FRSC using sophisticated equipment were able the cut through the wreckage from where we retrieved the rest bodies. It was a pathetic sight. In all my years of medical practice, I have not seen such.
Items that helped to give a pointer to their identity included partially burnt estate residence letterhead, VIO vehicle registration booklet showing the complete vehicle registration details and vehicle keys. The police and FRSC collected them as forensics to help in identifying the victims which as at then were unknown.
Thanks to this post, I now know the victims. We finished the rescue efforts at about 2 am and the bodies were taken to Kubwa General Hospital.
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