Onitsha tanker accident: Tears as people gather at mass burial site of 32 unidentified corpses + Photos

www.odogwublog.com reports exclusively that a group of people still searching for the corpses of their relatives wept profusely today at the burial site of the 32 unidentified corpses in Obosi.They could not bear the scene of the burial site as if theirs were [art of those interred.
www.odogwublog.com recalls that nNo fewer than 32 unidentified corpses of the tanker truck accident victims at Asaba Park, Upper Iweka in Onitsha were given a mass burial by the Anambra government penultimate Friday.


It would be recalled that the Onitsha tanker accident, which claimed over 69 lives and 50 others hospitalized, took place on May 31 at about 3:30 p.m.


Addressing a mammoth crowd during an inter-religious service at Obosi community near Onitsha, Gov. Willie Obiano described the incident as a calamity, ``which I pray not to see again in my life’’.


Obiano commended the management and staff of Toronto Hospital, Onitsha for their roles during the accident, adding: ``The hospital deployed all its resources".


The governor, however, reminded tanker drivers of the standing government order which allowed them to ply the roads in Anambra only at nights, as part of measures to reduce the high risk of fuel tanker accidents.


``Any defaulter would be made to face the law,’’ he said.


The governor directed that the corpes should be numbered and buried according to the serial numbering with a small plaque on top of each for clear identification at any given time.


“We took specimens of the corpses which we placed at the General Hospital, Onitsha and it will last there up to 10 years for their remembrance,’’ he said.


Speaking, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Akabuike, said that there were 39 unidentified corpses but later seven were claimed by their relations.


Akabuike commended the governor for all his support and making sure that the burial was done with international standard.


“All the necessary things and normal procedure were followed in having the mass burial for them”, he said.


Contributing, the Vice-Chairman of Nigeria Red Cross Society, Anambra Chapter, Prof. Peter Katchy, said: ``Gov. Obiano is a true Igbo-man’’ for understanding that the dead must be buried for their souls to rest in peace.


``He has done marvelously well and I appreciate his efforts and his large heart for getting a burial ground for these corpses”, Katchy said.


Earlier in his sermon, Ven. Oswald Ezekwere, reminded the people that they should always be ready for death as the world is not a living place.


``Life is vanity, life is like a vapour that disappears within a little time,’’ Ezekwere, who is an Anglican Archdeacon of Obosi Archdeaconry, said.
Pictures of an inter-religious burial mass of 32 unidentified bodies of the Tanker Truck Accident Victims at Asaba Park, Upper Iweka, Onitsha in Anambra on Friday.

Photos of the Tanker Truck Accident at Asaba Park, Upper Iweka, Onitsha, which claimed over 70 lives and 50 others hospitalized, took place on May 31.

Corpses – 1: The corpses while Gov. Willie Obiano (standing afar) giving final instructions of marking of the corpses with numbers individually during the interment proper.

Corpses – 2: The corpses while Gov. Willie Obiano (standing afar) giving final instructions of marking of the corpses with numbers individually during the interment proper.

Corpses – 3: Gov. Willie Obiano (speaking with microphone) while his been flanked by Anambra Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Akabuike (right).

Corpses – 4: The corpses lying in state, while the Vice-Chairman of Nigeria Red Cross Society, Anambra Chapter, Prof. Peter Katchy, gives instructions (extreme right).

Corpses – 5: The Chief Imam of Onitsha Central Mosque, Alh. Abdulraham Hamza, praying for the repose of the souls of the dead during the mass.