Auto accident claims seven in Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Hilary Opara, said that seven persons died in a motor accident near Yenagoa at Okosu River on Saturday.
Opara, who announced this to newsmen on Sunday in Yenagoa, said that the 10 people who survived the accident were receiving treatment in hospitals.
The accident occurred at about 8.30pm on Saturday near Sampou Junction on Bayelsa axis of the East West Road.
However, an eyewitness who identified himself as Eddy, said that 10 passengers, including the driver, died in the accident.
Eddy said that the 18-seater bus was conveying commuters from Delta State to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, after attending a traditional marriage ceremony when the accident occurred.
The eyewitness, a commercial driver, said the bus somersaulted and veered into the river after its driver lost control while overtaking an oncoming vehicle.
According to him, the bus is floating on the river as the driver and nine others died in the crash.
“I saw a nursing mother who managed to swim from the river but, however, lost her baby in the process,” Eddy said.
He said the deceased were later recovered from the river by local divers.
Most of the occupants of the vehicle were women and children.