A devastating accident occurred on Thursday at Kalabari Street (formerly Udi Street) in the Mile One area of Port Harcourt, leaving an aged man with severe injuries.
The aged man whose identity is yet to be ascertained was following the accident rushed to a nearby medical facility for urgent medical attention.
It was learnt that the incident occurred at Kalabari street, formerly known as Udi street in the mile one area of Port Harcourt around 1.30pm.
It was gathered that the victim was walking along the street when one of the falling poles hit him at the back, knocking him unconscious at the spot.
A Point of Sale (POS) operator in the area told our correspondent that the truck was speeding through the street when the incident happened.
She disclosed that the cargo the truck was conveying hooked on to some overhead wires and dragged it to the extent of destroying the nearby poles, adding that the motion of the vehicle forced the pole to cave in, hitting the innocent man.
The eye witness stated that the incident would have been more disastrous had there been electricity when the accident happened.
She said, “I saw that truck coming into the street with speed, some taxi drivers were even trying to stop him to slow down, but before we could know it the tall generator he was carrying went and hang those wires breaking two poles.
“After the first pole fell l, it dragged the second pole which hit an old man that was walking on his own at the back, everyone ran away.
“It was after some minutes that some men came and carried the man who had fainted on the ground and rushed him to the hospital, we don’t know if that man would survive or not.”
Another eyewitness, who disclosed that the incident happened around 1.30pm, added that the pole may have shattered the victim’s spinal cord.
He said three vehicles were equally smashed by the fallen electricity poles.
“A jeep that was parked by the side of the street and two other cars were destroyed by the poles. We thank God that there was no light when this happened, otherwise you would have seen a different thing here.
That man that the pole, I believe his spinal cord would be badly affected, I pray he survived.”