3 Fear Dead as Car Plunges into Agbarho River ….Pictures of accident scene present in story
By Socrates Odje, Warri.
WARRI: Three persons suspected to be workers of an oil servicing firm in Enerhen in Uvwie Council Area of Delta State were yesterday morning feared dead as their vehicle, a Volkswagen Audi 80 salon car with a Delta registration number AH 489 KLK plunged into the Agbarho river on their way to work.
The cause of the early morning accident was not immediately known but security officials who helped to maintain order as locals rescue to remove the car attributed in to the hazy morning weather.
Sympathisers at the scene of the accident-Photo: Socrates Odje
When Urhobo Today team got to the scene local rescue workers, official of Federal Road Safety and military personnel were seen employing crude means to bring the car out of water as no government or oil company failed to render any help.
Agbarho River where the vehicle plunged into Photo By Socrates Odje
The early morning accident caused severe vehicular traffic jam on the ever busy East-West road as sympathizers thronged the bridge with commuters parking their vehicles to render help too.
Eye witness told Urhobo Today that the car plunged into the water at about 5.30 am and that only two of the five occupants were saved, that the three others were still missing after about six hours later.
At the scene some agitated sympathizers obviously frustrated that there is no government rescue team vented their angers of reporters, as they wondered why no government representatives showed up.
According to a young man named Mr. Taiye Akinmola, who claimed to be brother of the driver of the ill fated car, he said, “My brother, Mr. ldowu Akinfolarin is a staff of Python Engineering Company at Enerhen, he left home this morning with four staff in his car, I was later called on phone by one of the survivors that their car plunged into the river.
“As I talk to you now, my brother is missing with two others. The caller who was one of the workers said he swam out of the river with another worker but my brother and two other workers are trap in the vehicle.”
He said that he alerted Agbarho indigenes who sent volunteers made up of divers from the community to rescue the workers who met Federal Road Safety Corp and some Army officials also trying to save the victims.
Taiye added that his brother Idowu is married with four children, and could not break the news to the wife yet.
After some long grueling hours the divers were able to locate the vehicle and tied ropes around it then drag it from the river to shore with the assistant of a volunteer driver of a lorry at 1.49pm after another spirited driver had earlier made attempt to drag but could not.
It could be recalled that in October, a commercial vehicle also plunged into the Agbarho river in which several lives were lost, many attribute the easy plunge to the failure of the contractor handling the East-West road to provide a barrier after the initial iron barrier was broken away.