Three persons died on Wednesday in an accident along Nwanwu Junction, Igbeagu along the Enugu Abakaliki Ogoja highway.

The incident, which happened just hours ago, also destroyed shops and properties.

According to eyewitness accounts, the crash was caused by a cement mixer truck that reportedly lost its brakes while descending from Nwezenyi.

Sources said the truck in an attempt to avoid colliding with a motorcycle rider emerging from Offia Oku Amachi Road veered off course and rammed into nearby shops.

The source said among the most affected were one drinking shop and two food vendors’ makeshift stalls which were completely destroyed in the crash.

The force of the impact left many victims trapped and injured, with emergency responders and bystanders rushing them to nearby hospitals for urgent medical attention.

Witnesses at the scene described it as horrific, with victims lying unconscious and properties reduced to rubble.

Community members have been thrown into mourning, with many expressing shock and calling on authorities to enforce stricter traffic safety measures, particularly on roads notorious for accidents.

“It was a scene of sorrow. We can only pray that no more deaths are recorded,” a source lamented

The Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps in Ebonyi, Anthony Ogodo confirmed the incident.

He said: “The unit commander at Igbeagu and the officers there got the information and rushed to the scene.

“The crash happened around 11.20 hours in the morning. So, when they got the news, they rushed there immediately. It happened along the Ogojo Abakaliki trunk a road.”

Ogbodo said the accident involved a Mercedes-Benz cement mixer which rammed into people at a local drinking joint and killed three people instantly.

He noted that the Road Safety officials took the corpses of the deceased to St Vincent Hospital in Ndubia.