Eight students of Madonna University, Elele, Rivers State have died in an auto crash.
The Network gathered that students were on their way to Taraba State when they had the fatal accident at the TTC/Special Science School junction, Abakaliki in Ebonyi State on Sunday.
The bus in which they were traveling was said to have had a head on collision with a Sienna van and caught fire
Seven other students were lucky to have escaped with different degrees of injuries and are being treated at Alex Ekwueme Teaching Hospital Hospital in Ebonyi State.
It was gathered the students were traveling to their various homes in adherence to the National University Commission to Universities across Nigeria to shut down academic activities from February 23 to March 14, 2023.
An eye witness, Matthew Mbam, narrated the sad unfortunate incident on his Facebook page.
“While returning from Nwezenyi, Igbeagu, Izzi, Ebonyi State, Nigeria this Sunday evening where I went to pick some people, I met this horrific scene at exactly TTC/Special Science School junction along the trans-Saharan road.
“Seeing the crowd of persons with some army officers around the burnt vehicle, I decided to park my car by the roadside and came out to find out what really happened. I was told that the accident occurred yesterday twilight being Saturday, February 18, 2023.
“After asking some persons there who all declined telling me what really happened, I met the soldiers who accompanied the relatives from Taraba State, directly to ask them what happened with the burnt vehicle.
“They briefed me that the bus was coming from Port-Harcourt, conveying some students from Madonna University with some of the parents who were returning to Taraba State for a break due to the upcoming elections.
“The story further has it that eight students/a parent are the chelated bodies/ashes that were burnt beyond recognition. And about seven persons in bad conditions who are currently at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, escaped from the bus when it caught fire after having head-on collision with a Sienna car.”
Our correspondent could not get the Vice Chancellor of the university, Dr Uchenna Anyanwu, to react to the gripping story as the calls to his mobile telephone line did not connect.