Seven persons died and 29 were injured in an incident at the annual Calabar Carnival on Tuesday, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
FRSC Sector Commander, Maikano Hassan said that the incident occurred in front of the Jumat mosque in Bogobiri in the capital city of Cross River State during the Bikers Carnival activity of the carnival.
Hassan listed the number of injured to include 21 male adults, three women, two male children and three female children.
He said that the injured were rushed to Naval hospital and the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) for medical attention, and that the remains of the dead had been deposited in two hospitals in Calabar.
According to him, the incident occurred when a Toyota Camry car lost control and rammed into crowd of onlookers during the carnival.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident abruptly brought the Day Five activity to an end, where the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade was already seated with other dignitaries.
The annual carnival started during the administration of Donald Duke, which the governor said was a vision to make Cross River State a home of tourism and hospitality in Nigeria and Africa. It started as a month-long festival held in December, but until the current governor, Ayade reduced it to two weeks after he was assumed office in 2015.
The festival has not held in the last two years.
It was suspended in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic while no reason was given for skipping it last year.
NAN reports that efforts were still being made to put some facilities in place for the 2022 edition of the carnival which was hurriedly put up.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Christian Ita, the governor directed security agencies to apprehend the motorist who was on the run.
While sympathising with the victims of the accident and their families, Ayade ordered an immediate investigation to unravel how the motorist beat security barricades to have access to the routes which were closed to the public.
Ita said that the governor also directed the immediate discontinuation of the Bikers parade in honour of the victims of the accident.
While promising to ensure the culprit is arrested and brought to book, Ayade however, sued for calm.
