Car crushes seven school children in Anambra

No fewer than seven students were feared dead on Thursday following a ghastly motor accident at the Umuokpu Junction along the old Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, Awka, Anambra State.

The incident occurred when a Toyota Camry lost control and ran into about 30 students of the Community Secondary School, Umuokpu, Awka, and Union Secondary School, Amawbia.

One of the victims was reported to have been crushed in the head.

Apart from the seven students, 10 others, including road-side traders, reportedly sustained head, limb and body injuries.

The entire atmosphere was charged as sympathisers, amid crying, scampered about to rescue the victims.

A source disclosed that the students had just closed from school and were waiting in their numbers to board a bus home when the car ran into them.

The victims included an aged man, who had his right leg broken, his right eyes cut open and a whitish substance oozing out of his forehead.

Another of the victims was trapped under the belly of a commercial bus that tried to avoid colliding with the ill-fated Toyota Camry.

The accident equally disrupted business activities in the area as the car also crushed the stands of people selling fruits, food items and recharge cards.

The road was littered with items, fruits and destroyed tables and umbrellas on which they were previously placed.

The driver of the car, who was also injured in the accident, was able to climb out of the mangled car.

Men of the Federal Road Safety Commission arrived the scene 20 minutes after the crash.

The Anambra State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Hyginus Omeje, who confirmed the accident, said he was waiting for his men to give him the details of the accident.

Meanwhile, the victims have been taken away to nearby hospitals.