Monitoring Desk
PORT HARCOURT: At least seven people were killed and more than two dozen injured when a car smashed into a popular carnival at Calabar port city in southeast Nigeria, said the local head of highway security.
“The incident occurred when the driver of a Toyota Camry car lost control and rammed into the crowd of onlookers,” the local commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Maikano Hassan, said in a statement.
Seven people were killed and 29 were wounded on Tuesday; some are critically injured, according to the statement.
The injured included two boys and three girls.
Carnival draws two million revellers
The incident happened as the crowd watched a motorcyclists’ parade in front of a mosque in the Bogobiri district.
Calabar, the capital city of Cross River state, hosts one of the most prestigious carnivals of West Africa in December every year.
The official site says that the carnival draws nearly two million revellers every year.
Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, urged police to capture the driver, who he said sped off after “the incident.”
He also directed them to investigate how the driver could enter an area that was supposed to have been closed off for the carnival.
