TRAGEDY: Two Persons Die Of Exhaustion At Onitsha Bridge Traffic Congestion
Two persons yesterday died on top of the Niger Bridge, Onitsha in Anambra State following a heavy traffic jam on the bridge. Apparently the victims a middle-aged man and a little kid, allegedly died due to exhaustion coming from the long hours spent in their vehicles while trying to cross the Niger Bridge.
Meanwhile for sometime now the passage has remained a nightmare to both transporters and their passengers.
According to sources, the deceased whose identities were not immediately known was a child who was coming back with his mother in a commercial bus from Lagos, while the second victim, a trader who traveled from the North to Onitsha to sell his goods.
It was gathered that the small child died instantly on the mother's lap on the bridge while the middle-aged business man died some minutes after crossing the bridge to Onitsha from the North.
It was alleged that the mother discovered that her child was no longer breathing after the child had
been crying for a long time due to the heat in the vehicle.
The
confused mother was said to have become uncontrollably as she burst
into tears running helter-skelter when she discovered that her child
whom she thought fell asleep was actually dead.
The trader was also said to have boarded the vehicle from the North and traveled smoothly until the Asaba end of the Bridge where they spent several hours under the scorching heat in an attempt to cross the Niger Bridge.
According to an eye witness the businessman and other passengers with him in the vehicle had already crossed the bridge and was offloading his goods from the vehicle when he suddenly slumped and died.
The Federal Government had repeatedly promised in the last 10 years to build a second Niger Bridge to ease traffic congestion on the bridge which is the gateway from the Lagos and other South-west states to the South-east and South-South.
The trader was also said to have boarded the vehicle from the North and traveled smoothly until the Asaba end of the Bridge where they spent several hours under the scorching heat in an attempt to cross the Niger Bridge.
According to an eye witness the businessman and other passengers with him in the vehicle had already crossed the bridge and was offloading his goods from the vehicle when he suddenly slumped and died.
The Federal Government had repeatedly promised in the last 10 years to build a second Niger Bridge to ease traffic congestion on the bridge which is the gateway from the Lagos and other South-west states to the South-east and South-South.
