Tears flowed among relations, colleagues and friends as five members of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) drowned when the bus they were travelling veered off a bridge and plunged into a river on Monday, June 5.
The victims (names withheld) were said to have travelled from Onitsha Park in Anambra State to their Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) in Calabar, Cross River State.
Straightnews online gathered that all the occupants and the NYSC members in the ill-fated car died in the river.
Confirming the sad incident, Andrew Zemoh, the Cross River State Coordinator of NYSC, said the five were on their way to Calabar, their place of primary assignment, when the incident happened.
According to Zemoh, “the incident occurred on Sunday in Enugu and the parents of the victims have evacuated their bodies.”
Zemoh, who sympathised with the bereaved families, said they would decide when the victims will be buried.
He did not state the identities of the victims but promised to speak further on Thursday.
Details about the incident were sketchy as of press time. It was, however, gathered that the vehicle the victims were travelling in allegedly veered off a bridge and plunged into a river in which the victims drowned.
A Facebook user named Comr Salau George Alexander, who claims to have been in the same camp as the victims during their time in Cross River’s Obubra camp, Batch A, Stream 2, shared photographs of the deceased individuals on the platform.
“RIP to these beautiful souls. We camped together in Cross River (Obubra camp) batch A stream 2.
‘‘I remember how we (I and Giveth) met at Onitcha park en route to Cross River and became close. She became friends with Ada in camp, and they were inseparable. Everybody in our camp knows them as best friends.
‘‘When I heard the news today, I was terrified. I just couldn’t believe it. I made a few calls to confirm, and alas! It did happen. It was reported that they drowned after their vehicle fell into a river.
‘‘How it happened is beyond my comprehension, but God knows best. RIP, you have paid the ultimate price. May God grant you paradise,” he wrote.
