What was supposed to be a period of fun and camaraderie in Cross River state turned into a full blown melee during the Calabar festival on Tuesday.
All hell broke loose when one of the Camry cars lost control and rammed into the crowd, killing over 15 persons with several others were injured during the Bikers’ Carnival held on Tuesday in Calabar.
The Bikers’ Carnival is the brain child of Governor Ben Ayade’s government. It was introduced to add colour and razzmatazz to the annual festival introduced by former Governor Donald Duke in 2004 .
Witness said shortly after the Bikers’ parade was flagged off about 5:00pm, one of the Camry car on the parade, sped off from Eleven-Eleven Round-About along Calabar Road heading to Mary Slessor, one of the adjucation points, and lost control and rammed into the crowd around the Central Mosque at Bogobiri and killed about 5 persons instantly.
After about 20 minutes of the the incident another five passed away while others died on the way to hospital and a few died at various hospitals they were rushed to, the witness said.
Those affected are some members of Hausa community, passers-by and shop owners who came for one business or the other around the Bogobiri axis, Daily Sun quoted him as saying.
The corpses have been evacuated while the injired persons nunbering over 10 have been rushed to soem hospitals for medical attemtion.
Checks by Daily Sun showed that security personnel have cardoned off the Mary Slessor -Bigobiri axis to forestall breakdown of law and order just as the Carnival ended abruptly.
The state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade was already seated with other dignitaries when the incident occurred.
Confirming tje incident, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Cross River, Maikano Hassan, said it ocured when a driver of a camry car lost control and rammed into the crowd of onlookers.
According to him, “I am on my way to the hospital to ascertain the figure of deaths and those injured.
“But I can confirm that the reports is true and will get back to you as soon as am able to establish the number of casualties.”