George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The body of the mother of Rev. Father Alex Onyemata of the Catholic Diocese of OKigwe was saved by family members from being gutted by fire as the ambulance conveying it burst into flame.
It was learnt that the Toyota Siena ambulance car conveying the deceased to the Mercy Mortuary in Umulogho, Obowo in Obowo council of Imo State burst into flames because the vehicle’s fuel tank was leaking. The resulting inferno completely burnt the ambulance vehicle.
It was gathered that the ambulance which left the deceased’s compound at Dikenta, Avutu, Obowo with the corpse, about 2 pm and was gutted by fire along Owerri-Umuahia road last Saturday, January 11, 2020.
However, the corpse was rescued by her family members who were accompanied it to the mortuary before the fire totally engulfed the vehicle.
One of the witnesses who simply identified himself as Ikenna, said on noticing it, the driver immediately pulled over and a crowd rushed out to assist him to stop the fire with fire extinguishers, buckets of water mixed with detergent, buckets of sand and green leaves, but to no avail”
It was further gathered that as they made efforts to put out the fire, fuel kept dropping from the thank, further fuelling the fire.
The bereaved, it was gathered, were forced to carry the corpse in a stretcher and walked to the mortuary to deposit it.