23rd July, 2012
Five Nigerians, including two children, were killed at the early hours of Sunday in a car crash near the Van Wyck expressway in Queens, New York.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), three of the eight persons in the vehicle survived the accident.
The accident occurred when the SUV in which the victims were travelling swerved after speeding through two red lights, slammed into a concrete pillar, rolled over and burst into flames.
The victims were said to be indigenes of Imo, and had attended a two-day annual convention of the Arondizuogu Patriotic Union National Congress of North America.
It was also learnt that some of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle, including a 26-year-old man whom rescue personnel found sitting on a curb.
The driver, a 45-year-old woman whose name has not been made public resides in the Bronx and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The third survivor, a seven-year-old boy was in stable condition.
Mr Don Akamnonu told NAN that the Imo community was yet to get the names of the deceased.
Last night, the Arondizuogu Patriotic Union National Congress in North America, released the names of its members who died in the crash. They are Eucharia Okafor-Mba, Nwaebube Okafor-Mba, Nnenna Obioha, Adaobi Obioha and Okwudiri Onyekwue.It listed the survivors as Oby Obioha, Chuchu Obioha and Kingsley Maduka.