Seven people of the same extended family were reportedly burnt to death in a fatal accident on Friday night in Delta State.
The accident reportedly involved a Sienna space car and a flat truck along Koko community and Koko junction of the Benin-Warri highway in Warri North Local Government Area of the state.
Tribune Online gathered at the weekend that the family was returning from the burial of a deceased mother when their car rammed into a stationary flat truck and caught fire.
The seven family members were burnt beyond recognition in the process.
Among the dead was the wife of a 49-year-old man, Daniel Burkiti, and his six other relatives, it was gathered.
A close relative of Burkiti who narrated the incident at the family home in Sapele said the seven deceased died while on their way to the burial of Mr Burkiti’s mother who passed some months ago.
“Daniel’s mother died months ago and on Saturday, Daniel’s relatives went for the sisters’ burial after Koko where you have to take a boat from Koko to the hinterland.
“The relative said the tragedy would have been averted if the deceased had read the ominous signs correctly.
“One of Daniel’s daughter told the mother of a dream she had the previous night, but the mother only shouted ‘God forbid’ and delved into long prayers before leaving for Koko from Sapele,” the family source noted.
It was gathered that the boat Pinky, Daniel’s wife and the six other relations were travelling in from Koko suddenly broke down midway into the journey.
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“They took another boat and after the funeral, they were returning when they ran into a truck along Koko Community to Koko Junction, the vehicle they boarded burnt to ashes with the occupants,” the source further disclosed.
Only a passenger, now recuperating at a hospital in Oghara, was said to have survived the accident, while the truck driver reportedly bolted away for fear of mob action.
The Chairman of Warri North Local Government Area, Mr Aduge Okorodudu, was said to have visited the only survivor with a promise of financial assistance.
Meanwhile, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Delta Command, Mr Rindom Kumven, in a telephone chat with Tribune Online on Sunday, confirmed the incident, saying he had mobilised his men to the scene of the accident.
He described the crash as a “terrible accident never heard of before in my time here.”
He said a stationary heavy-duty truck that was carrying no luggage was rammed into by the Sienna space car conveying the seven family members coming from a burial on Friday night.
Kumven who commiserated with families of the deceased said the occupants of the car and the truck were burnt beyond recognition due to the impact.
The FRSC boss said he later got a report that the burnt remains of the deceased had been given a mass burial, warning motorists to beware of night journeys and abstain from keeping keg of fuel in their cars.