A yet to be identified number of passengers, including driver have escaped death, following a fire accident that occurred along the Old Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.
It was gathered that the inferno suddenly erupted from the commercial bus, causing gridlock on the bridge for many hours, on Wednesday.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the Toyota Hiace bus, was heading towards Asaba, Delta State when it suddenly caught up in flames in the middle of the road.
An eyewitness near the scene in the area, who identified himself as Obiora Uzor, told newsmen that the passengers jumped out of the bus one after the other before the fire finally engulfed the whole of the vehicle.
He said: “The bus suddenly went up in flames while in motion and caused panic on the bridge as the passengers struggled to escape being caught up by the fire. No one knew the cause of the fire.
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“It caused a heavy gridlock to and fro the bridge as motorists and other passersby were battling to extinguish the fire before the arrival of firefighters who later controlled the inferno.”
Also confirming the incident on Thursday, the Media and Publicity Unit of the Anambra State Fire Service in a statement, disclosed that no life was lost in the accident.
The statement reads: “The Anambra State Fire Service on Wednesday, 30th October 2024 received a distress alert at 0930 hours reporting of a vehicle (bus) engulfed by fire along top of the Bridge-head, Onitsha.
“A crew of Firemen and firefighting equipment were immediately deployed to the rescue.
“They extinguished the fire and ensured that it did not affect other vehicles that were plying the Bridge.
“The cause of the incident is unknown. No life was lost. The public was advised to alert the fire service in time whenever there was a fire outbreak and to install fire extinguishers in their vehicles. Remember, fire kills but, we can prevent it.”
