The students had been directed to vacate their hostels before 6:00 pm on Tuesday.
Though the Enugu State Police Command said only three undergraduates died in the accident, eyewitnesses said no fewer than 20 students of the UNN perished in the accident.
Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Police Command, Ebere Amaraizu, in a statement made available to journalists, said apart from the three who lost their lives, five other students sustained injuries in the accident.
Amaraizu said, “Three persons have been confirmed dead while five others sustained various degrees of injuries. The injured are being attended to at Our Saviour Hospital, 9th Mile Corner, Ngwo, while the dead bodies are also deposited at the same hospital mortuary.
“The auto crash involved a diesel truck with registration number AWK 311 XB, which is believed to have lost control as a result of suspected brake failure and hit two buses with registration numbers UWN 406 XA and UWN 57 XA and also a motorcycle.”
Before the closure of their school on Tuesday, our correspondent learnt that the students had planned to embark on a demonstration over the lack of electricity and water in their hostels.
It was learnt that the planned demonstration was to take place within the week.
A student, who pleaded anonymity, had told our correspondent that there had been acute water scarcity and zero power supply in their hostels for a very long time.