No fewer than seven persons including school children died while scores were injured in a fatal auto auto crash along Ikot Oku Ikono-Ekim Itam Highway in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State Monday morning, March 15.
The accident which took place along Ntak Inyang village of the highway involved a petrol tanker vehicle and two tricycles that conveyed school children and some passengers.
Currently, the state government is handling repairs of a portion of Ntak Inyang road after landslide had severed the highway.
The Niger Pet Construction firm handling the remedial work had closed one side of the road to traffic forcing vehicles to ply one lane of the highway.
According to information at the scene of the accident, some bystanders said the Keke driver and the passengers including school children died on the spot.
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in the state said it was gathering facts about the accident.
The state Sector Commander, Oga Ochi, who confirmed the number of casualty from the incident, added that its officers were immediately dispatched to the scene after receiving information about the crash.
The FRSC sector commander who said the accident occurred because the truck was on excessive speed when it rammed into the tricycles added that investigation into the incident was still ongoing.
