A fresh graduate of biological sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, simply identified as only, Chidimia has recounted how her purse delayed the bus she had boarded from possibly being burnt in the tanker explosion that occurred along 9th Mile-Enugu road.
TheNewsGuru reported that not fewer than 20 persons and 10 vehicles were burnt beyond recognition in the inferno.
According to Chidimma, the bus she was travelling in from Awka to Enugu was averted from the tragic incident after her purse which was containing her money and cell phone got missing, which pushed the driver of the car she had boarded to make a U-turn during the course of her journey along 9th Mile-Enugu road.
She said. “We boarded a bus from Awka. Close to the 9th Mile, a woman in the bus, whose two sons have been disturbing, said her purse containing her money, cell phone and ATM card had fallen off through the window of the bus when she was struggling with her sons.
“Many passengers and the driver were angry with her for delaying our journey.
“She used someone’s phone to call her phone number. Someone answered, and said the purse fell off after Oji River, and asked her to return to collect it.
“The driver insisted that he should be given money to buy thirty litres of fuel before he would turn back.
“Two men agreed to pay the bills, and we reversed. Two passengers refused, and demanded their fare, which another man gave them, and they set off.
“Around 12 noon when we got back to 9th Mile, the expressway leading to Enugu had been blocked. We were diverted to ply Ngwo-Enugu route.
“When we approached Enugu, the news broke out that a tanker exploded around Ugwu Onyeama around 11:30am. Who knows what would have been the fate of the bus we were in had we not been delayed?
“I later learnt that one of the passengers that disembarked from our bus is still missing.”