It was a black Saturday for the people of Ebonyi state, and Ikwo in particular, as they woke up to behold a fatal motor accident that claimed the lives of an unspecified number of passengers.
It was gathered that a white minibus, fully loaded with passengers travelling from Abakaliki town to Ikwo, on getting to the popular Enyigba, Abakaliki/FUNAI express road, lost control and plunged into an excavation pit filled with water, which was said to be about 36 feet deep.
The scene of the accident is a 10 minutes drive to Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo.
At the time of filing this report, efforts to rescue the trapped passengers proved abortive as local divers said they could neither sight the vehicle nor passengers inside the excavated mining pit.
Meanwhile, rescue operations are still in progress, although suspended till the following day to enable other relevant rescue authorities to arrive at the scene.
It will be recalled that the Ebonyi state government had earlier issued stern warning against open mining pits which was rebuffed by the explorers.
Ebonyi state is well noted for its solid mineral deposits and agricultural potentials.
