An 18-seater bus conveying travellers from Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, had reportedly plunged into a river in Akwa Ibom which drowned at least eleven passengers including a mother and her two female children.
Confirming the incident in Uyo on Friday, November 28, 2014 the Akwa Ibom State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Ramalan Yerima, said the vehicle involved was a 18-seater bus belonging to a Port Harcourt-based transport company named To And Fro adding that there were 13 passengers in the bus before the tragedy.
Yerima disclosed that only two male passengers survived the accident, which occurred at 9pm on Ibagwa Bridge near Wellington Bassey Barracks, Abak Local Government area of Akwa Ibom, according to Punch reports.
He also revealed the accident took place when the driver tried to avoid a pothole at the edge of the bridge before an oncoming CRV Jeep hit the bus from behind and they went into the river.
The remains of the victims were recovered and had been deposited at University of Uyo Teaching Hospital mortuary according to the FRSC commander.
He also disclosed that the Julius Berger construction company helped the rescue operation by providing a crane with which the submerged vehicle was pulled out from the river.
