Tragedy struck on Wednesday night at Oji River, a border town in Enugu State, when a cement-laden truck killed five persons and injured many others.

The accident happened around 8pm, when the trailer, reportedly belonging to Dangote Cement Company, suffered a brake failure as it descended the steep slopes of the Oji River bridge.

With an increased velocity, the vehicle ran out of control of the driver, somersaulted across the water drainage separating the road and the shops beside the Oji Town market and rammed into the shops – killing five persons on the spot.

An eyewitness said the trailer, with registration number KM 162 XB, was moving from Enugu to Anambra State.

The driver of the trailer, whom eyewitnesses described as a very young man, died instantly, while two commercial motor cycle operators, popularly referred to as “Okada” riders, were also killed. Two other persons, believed to be commuters, whose identities were not yet known, were equally crushed by the Dangote trailer.

Among those injured were technicians, hawkers and food vendors who ply their trade at the ever busy Oji Town linking Enugu to Awka. They were said to have received varying degrees of injuries.

When The AUTHORITY visited the scene of the accident yesterday afternoon, the Dangote trailer was still lying there, with littered bags of cement along the road. Some of the residents expressed fears that there might be some other victims of the accident who were trapped and covered by the bags of cement, and the exact number of casualties could not be determined until the bags of cement were removed.

The gruesome accident of Wednesday, February 24, night accident at Oji Town, sparked off a series of protests by youths resident at Oji Town against Dangote motors and other big vehicles plying the Oji Town to link Anambra State through Enugu to the Onitsha old road.

The youths, in their hundreds, blocked the road with wood and some bags of cement that littered the road. They angry youths urged both the Enugu State government and the Federal Government to ban trailers and heavy duty vehicles from plying the old Enugu to Onitsha road, because of the grievous calamity the big vehicles had inflicted on many families. They said vehicles should revert to the Enugu to Onitsha express way.

A member of the National Union of Road Transport workers (NURTW), Oji River chapter, Mr Ilomuanya, lamented that the gory accident on Wednesday at Oji town would be the second time by Dangote motors. He said the entire Oji Town market was turned bloody on November 22, 2014, as a Dangote trailer loaded fully with bags of cement, in similar circumstances, had a brake failure as it descended the steep slope Oji River slope, and rammed into Oji town, destroying shops and killing many people within their shops. More than 20 people were killed instantly in that particular accident.

•Excerpted from The AUTHORITY. Photo shows a Dangote truck accident scene.

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