The death toll in the Enugu-Nike-Opi-Nsukka Road accident has risen from 15 to 17 persons as of Wednesday.
The Federal Road Safety Corps gave the latest figure from the accident that occurred at Maduka University, Enugu State.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the Enugu State Police Command confirmed that 16 passengers were burnt beyond recognition in a fatal accident involving a commercial bus along Enugu-Nike-Opi-Nsukka Road on Tuesday.
The Sector Commander of the FRSC in Enugu State, Adeyemi Sokunbi, confirmed the death of one of the surviving two persons involved in the accident on Wednesday in Enugu.
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Sokunbi said that doctors at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, where the two survivors were rushed to by FRSC officers, confirmed the death of one of the accident victims.
He said: “The remaining surviving passenger, who had 64 percent fire burn injury, is stable and responding to treatment.
“FRSC officials are on ground and we have kept a close attention on him even as we pray that the Almighty God grants him quick recovery.”
The Sector Commander said that the FRSC had taken the deceased to the morgue, while trying to make contact with families and friends of those affected in the unfortunate incident.
According to Sokunbi, from available sketchy information so far on the commercial bus, it was likely heading to the northern part of the country, probably to Abuja and finally Kaduna.
He said: “I am making a passionate appeal, which FRSC management had been making for years now, for our people to avoid all forms of night travel.
“While as drivers on the wheel, and even passengers being conveyed, we should not overspeed and we all have the responsibility to put the driver in check when he goes over speed.”
An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the commercial bus, which was on high speed, lost control and rammed into the fence of Maduka University, Ekwegbe, located on the road, and burst into flames.