The accident which occurred along the Enugu-Nsukka expressway in the early hours of the day involved a luxurious bus that was apparently heading for the northern part of the country and a Mercedes 911 truck laden with heavy logs.

Eyewitnesses said over 20 people perished in the mishap and when the Daily Champion visited the scene bodies of seven of the deceased passengers were seen spread across the road with the injured and other survivors moaning in agony while volunteers made frantic efforts to pull more bodies from wreckage in which both vehicles were damaged beyond recognition.

A police patrol team which later arrived the scene and together with other sympathisers, volunteered their vehicles began to remove the dead bodies and the injured to nearby hospitals and mortuaries while many other passersby stayed back to bemoan the disaster.

Among those who died in the mishap were two female youth corpers identified by their uniforms, drivers of both vehicles and many young men believed to be traders as well as some middle aged women.

Most of the survivors were too much in pain and shock to talk to reporters but one of them who gave her name as Mrs Nnamdi said she boarded the bus at Onitsha while it was in transit adding that she did not know where it was coming from.

She said the accident occurred around 6.30 am when the luxury bus driver attempted to overtake a lorry at a bend and ran into the on-coming truck loaded with timber adding that the passengers had warned the driver over his reckless driving until the incident happened.

"We kept warning the man but he refused to listen, then i saw him swerve suddenly and the next thing I heard was gboa! and you can now see what happened", she wailed.

Efforts to reach zonal commander of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the police Public Relations officer in the state for comment on the tragedy proved abortive as they were said not to be on seat while their telephone liens failed.