By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa
The inherent hazard faced by travellers plying the troubled East-West road which straddled the oil rich states of the Niger Delta again played out itself last week Monday night when a Mitsubishi Gallant car collided with another vehicle, a Honda car on the bridge and  plunged into the Okoso river.

A young man who was later identified as Mr. Steven Kemepadou, a staff of indigenous oil servicing in Port Harcourt, was killed in the tragic accident which occurred on the Okoso Bridge on the Bayelsa stretch of the road in the Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area.

Though the cause of the accident could not be immediately ascertained as it occurred late in the night when the road is usually less busy, but it was gathered the poor state of the road, coupled with fatigue on the part of the drivers as well as poor visibility and lack of road signs to warn drivers of the treacherous state of the bridge, may have contributed to this avoidable loss.

Although the entire stretch of the road is riddled with potholes, making it a harrowing experience for travellers, but the Okoso bridge axis could best be described as a death trap, given the tricky state of the road leading to the bridge head when coming from the Mbiama end.

Several lives have been lost in the past due to the terrible state of the road in the course of motorists trying to avoid running into the craters, some of which are very wide and deep and could easily cause vehicles on high speed to lose control and plunge into the river or valley.

The Monday night accident around the Okoso Bridge caused a serious pandemonium in the area in the early hours of Tuesday when sympathisers and rescue workers thronged the scene in search of the vehicle that plunged into the river.

Anxiety among the army of sympathisers who besieged the scene was further heightened when news went round that it was a commercial bus coming from Port Harcourt in Rivers State and heading to Warri in Delta State.

For several hours, rescuers from the local community battled to locate the ill-fated vehicle that plunged into the river and possible survivors to no avail.

While the driver of the Honda car with Rivers plate number AG 188 KHE that was involved in a collision sustained serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital the driver of the other vehicle was not that lucky as he was cold dead when he was eventually fished out from the river.

Armed policemen and other security operatives travelling through the route were also on hand to render assistance and help direct traffic on the road to prevent gridlock given the near chaotic situation on the route.

But some of the sympathizers at the scene told Vanguard Metro that some public spirited persons had been diving into the river in search of the vehicle and possible survivors to no avail.

They noted with concern that nobody had been able to identify the make of the vehicle or the number of passengers in it when the accident occurred between Monday midnight and early hours of Tuesday.

According to them, only the driver of the Honda who was unconscious when he was rescued could narrate what actually happened and the fate of the occupants of the other vehicle that plunged into the river.

A resident close to the scene of accident said: “We heard a loud bang but it was difficult to describe what actually happened. When we rushed to the scene, we only saw the badly damaged Honda lying off the bridge with no sign of the other vehicle.

“The injured driver was rushed to hospital and we searched to no avail in the darkness for the other vehicle and continued again at daybreak, hoping that we will rescue somebody”.

Also, a one of the local divers searching the river for the other vehicle and its occupants said all they were encountering were concrete slabs that were used to protect the side of the river from erosion.

He showed our correspondent, who visited the scene at about 7am, a long bamboo pole that was used to prod the water in the course of their search stressing: “As at that time, there was no hope of finding any survivors as the victims would have been inside the river for over eight hours”.

But the missing vehicle was later located on the bed of the river and a corpse fished out by rescuers after many had given hope of recovery of the remains of the likely victims.

The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, identified the victim as Mr. Steven Kemepadou, a staff of an indigenous oil servicing company in Port Harcourt.

The Sagbama Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr.Samson Eniyemo, confirmed that the Mitsubishi Gallant car plunged into the Okoso river and the corpse of the driver had been recovered by the local divers in the community with the dead body deposited in a morgue in Odi.

Mr. Eniyemo urged drivers to avoid night travels, dangerous overtaking and ensure their vehicles are always in good condition.