Some witnesses of road crashes in Rivers State have called on commercial drivers to conduct daily check-ups on their vehicles before commencement of the day’s operations.
They said this was necessary to ascertain if their vehicles are in good shape to curtail the level of road accidents. This position became necessary after a commercial vehicle presumed to be an inter-state bus was gutted by fire at the Rumukrushi area, on Port Harcourt-Aba Road, recently.
One of the passengers who was simply identified as Rosemary said the bus that conveyed them from Afikpo, in Ebonyi State to Rivers State suddenly caught fire.
Rosemary who spoke with The Tide explained that the fire started unannounced, adding that all their belongings were lost to the fire.
“We were coming from Ebonyi State, Afikpo t o be precise, and our bus caught fire and I did not come out with any of my belongings”, she said.
According to her, she managed to come out of the vehicle through the window, adding that other passengers that escaped also lost their belongings.
She lamented that the driver of the bus was left alone to try to douse the fire.
The Tide gathered that no lives were lost in the incident but the vehicle was burnt beyond repairs.
This, The Tide gathered was as a result of overheating of the bus radiator and a failed water pump