Crippled teenage begger crushed to death in Onitsha

A crippled teenage boy whose identity is yet to be ascertained, was reportedly crushed to death by an articulated vehicle while begging for alms at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, Anambra state.

The sister to the deceased who was pushing him on a wheel chair, was said to have escaped death by whiskers as she abandoned him and ran for her life.

The Nation learnt that the driver of the ill-fated 40-feet tanker which had earlier loaded its liquid content, reportedly rammed into them following brake failure.

An eye witness who simply identified himself as Uchenna, said the truck was descending the Onitsha Asaba expressway from Army barracks axis when he suddenly lost control and skidded off the road.

“It rammed into commuters waiting along the road to board vehicles to their various destinations.

“Scores sustained injuries while the crippled who could not escape like others, was knocked down and died on the spot,” he said.

Narrating her ordeal, the deceased sister lamented the difficulty in tracing the parents, saying it was the deceased that was more familiar with the terrain.

“My brother is dead now and I it will be difficult to locate my parents. He was the one directing me while I pushed him on the wheelchair,” she decried.

Another survivor, Angela, who said she was among those that ran away, was full of gratitude to God for saving her.

She said, “God saved us from untimely death. I pitied the crippled boy who could not run as a result of his condition.

“It was the cleverness of the girl that saved her. If not that she ran away, it would have been two deaths from a family.”