By CHARLES IWUOHA

A mob has lynched the driver of a water truck and his aide after their vehicle crushed five school children to death in Ebonyi State.

The police said the incident happened in Oshiri in Onicha Local Government Area of the state.

“On Monday through a distress call, the DPO of Onicha was contacted that an accident happened killing five school children and angry youths attacked the driver and killed him,” the police spokesperson in the state, Loveth Odah, said in a statement.

“The driver, Ewa Innocent, is from Ameka Ikwo while the conductor, Ojim Danis, is from Agharazo, Iyiemgu Izzi.”

The children were students of St Michael’s Schools, Oshiri.

A resident of the community said the accident, which has thrown the community into mourning, happened at Onu Nworiegu, Oshiri.

The water truck allegedly belongs to a company known as C-Sagas Project Nigeria Limited.

The children, from Amaokpara village in Oshiri, were said to be returning home from school when the truck ran over them on the road.

News Express gathered that the driver fled after the accident until the youth of the area chased and caught up with the truck at Onicha Igbeze, a neighbouring community. They immediately lynched both the driver and the conductor.

Odah, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the children, the bus driver and conductor were confirmed dead by a doctor in the hospital.

According to her, the corpses of the driver and his assistant were recovered and deposited at Onicha General Hospital. She said nobody had turned up to claim the bodies.

Mrs Odah urged motorists to drive more carefully during the ember months.

“The CP is mourning and commiserates with the family. I want to warn road users to drive with care because this is ember month. We have lost a lot this year,” she said.