Eight students travelling home for election die in Ebonyi car crash

Eight students of Madonna University in Rivers state have reportedly been burnt to death in a road accident.

The incident was said to have occurred along the Trans-Saharan road in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, on Saturday while the students were travelling to Taraba state.

It is understood that the undergraduates were returning home after the school announced a break for the forthcoming elections.

Their bus was said to have caught fire and got burnt beyond recognition, leaving eight dead and 10 other occupants seriously injured.

Those injured were rushed to the Alex Ekwueme Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki, the state capital, for treatment.

When contacted by TheCable Lifestyle, Benedicta Egoyibom, an official of the institution, confirmed the incident.

She, however, did not go into details, insisting the matter is under investigation.

“Yes, it is true. The school is trying to gather more information about how the incident happened,” she said.

The development has continued to elicit reactions on social media from families and friends of those who died in the accident.

Ezra Usman, a parent of one of the late students, took to his Facebook page to lament the incident.

“Grace Usman Ezra, I never knew sending you to Madonna university will lead to your untimely dead. 18 of you left Madonna to Jalingo yesterday only to hear the news that your bus had an accident and caught fire, 8 out of 18 came out from the bus,” he wrote.

“It is well with 10 of you and the rest that are alive, I pray for your speedy recovery and my God comfort us all that lost our children.”

Chris Anyanwu, Ebonyi police spokesperson, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him on the matter — as of the time of this report.

On February 9, the federal government directed the closure of universities across the country for three weeks for the conduct of the coming elections.