Accident” 11years Girl Loses Hand

By Ovie smith yenagoa

The serenity experienced on Sunday 17 September, 2023 was truncated at about 7.5pm when a fully loaded white commuter bus somersaulted, bottom up, at the roundabout opposite Creek Haven, Government House Yenagoa.

The order for Tricycles to vacate the roads within Yenagoa metropolis had just started and buses and cabs were already engaged in the brisk business of transportation as darkness fast approached.

Those responsible for keeping the major roads clean were already out sweeping and among them were two kids helping out their absent mum as they swept the road by the entrance of Peace Park.

There was a loud and indescribable noise which made everyone close by turn abruptly to see the bus as it sat on its top with a thud, and its four wheels dangled in the air.

The shock was shortlived as people remembered that there were two girls where the bus finally rested but from the vicinity of the wreckage the smaller girl of about seven years ran away while the older girl who should be about 11 years was knocked out of the way and she scurried to climb the kerb in between the road by the roundabout.

Relief spread among witnesses that fate spared the well mannered girls who had the presence of mind to be courteous and attention turned back to the wreckage where no movement was yet observed inside the bus.

The security operatives attached to Government House Yenagoa rushed out to the scene and yelled for coordinated action to rescue the victims trapped in the ill fated bus.

However, operatives of Operation Doo Akpo and A Division Patrol Team as well as a team from State Traffic office arrived the scene and joined the ongoing effort to rescue the victims and convey them to the hospital for medical attention.

While there was relief that all the victims were brought out alive after turning the bus on its side, a fresh alarm was raised that it seemed rescuers had missed a victim because a severed hand could still be seen.

The security operatives attached to Government House gave the rallying cry once again to lift the bus upright and when the bus was lifted upright the severed hand of a female victim who was earlier pulled out of the wreckage unconscious was discovered.

The Officer In Charge of State Traffic also arrived the scene where he wrapped the severed hand in a cellophane bag and placed it inside the wrecked bus with the discovered belongings of victims who had been rushed to the hospital before a towing vehicle arrived and towed the wreckage to the State Traffic Office along Elebele Road, Opolo.

The drivers license discovered along with other documents in the vehicle by the security operatives identified the reckless driver as M. Kufre Akpan.

The said Kufre tried to maneuver his way around the roundabout on top speed and eventually lost control, especially, as he was said to have overloaded the bus .