Posted by By NWAGBO NNENYELIKE, Ilorin on
A food seller, Mrs. Ebere Obi, was crushed to death with her head chopped off by a heavy crane, which lost control along Ahmadu Bello Way and ran up to Murtala Muhammed Way in Ilorin to end up beside a shopping complex.
A food seller, Mrs. Ebere Obi, was crushed to death with her head chopped off by a heavy crane, which lost control along Ahmadu Bello Way and ran up to Murtala Muhammed Way in Ilorin to end up beside a shopping complex.
It was feared that one of Mrs Obi's sisters who was helping her to sell food and some of their customers might have been buried alive by the Groove crane with registration number OYA6239A. It sank up to two feet deep into the ground where it finally stopped.
All efforts to lift the heavy crane up by another bigger crane were futile. Another crane was brought, yet it could not save the situation.
An eyewitness, Ganiyu Raman, said there were some people who were waiting to buy food from her when it happened. The sad incident, which occurred 9: 00 am, shocked all the traders in the Challenge area of Murtala Muhammed Way. It brought about commotion as people ran helter skelter. He said they heard a loud horn from the crane.
Then continuous shout from the driver that 'the break had failed o!"
As they looked, they saw the big crane crashing down at a very high speed from Ahmadu Bello Way. There was a trailer, which blocked the way of the crane towards Challenge junction. It swerved the other way and landed where Mrs. Obi, popularly called Mama Daniel, was selling food. It fell on top of her and the food.
Raman said: 'When the driver was shouting that the break has failed Mrs. Obi did not hear. She was busy washing the plates, which she used in serving her customers food."
Daily Sun learnt that Mr. Obinna Nwabulu, husband of the deceased, had traveled to their home town, Ohaozara, in Ebonyi State, because his father would undergo an operation. He traveled on Monday. They have five children.
Meanwhile, his wife's body has been deposited at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) Mortuary.