How Imo Catholic Priest Mother’s Corpse was Rescued When Fire Guts Ambulance

The body of late mother of Rev. Fr. Alex Onyemata (Priest of Okigwe Catholic Diocese) was on its way to Mercy Mortuary, Umulogho, Obowo Local Government in Imo State on Sunday when the ambulance (a Toyota Sienna) gutted by fire due to a leaking fuel tank.

While on Owerri – Umuahia Expressway, after the ambulance and the accompanied family member had departed the deceased’s compound at Dikenta Avutu Obowo earlier in the evening of Saturday January 11th 2020, the vehicle went in flames on motion.

The driver parked immediately when he noticed fire dropping from the fuel tank and a crowd came to assist him with fire extinguishers, buckets of water mixed with detergent, buckets of sand and green leaves, but all to no avail.

Thanks to the family members who were on the convoy that quickly rescued the corpse by forcing open the ambulance’s boot to bring down the corpse on a stretcher before the fire engulfed the ambulance.

The corpse was then taken in the stretcher and deposited at the Mercy Mortuary because it was a few poles away to the fire scene.

There were conflicting reports about the incident, while some said the inferno was a result of a leakage in the vehicle’s tank, others claimed that the deceased had warned before she died that her corpse should never be taken to the morgue.

May the soul of the deceased rest in peace.