41 yr-old bridge collapses, takes 21 lives overnight

No fewer than 21 travellers lost their lives overnight while travelling from Kano to Jigawa August last weekend.

The accidents occurred following heavy downpours at Rabadi, Gwaram LGA, causing a concrete bridge to collapse, leaving a gap for unsuspecting motorists.

Eighteen of the victims were travelling back home to Taraba, Adamawa, and Borno from a Nigerian Army recruitment interview in Kano.

Their bus would later plunge in 1.am Sunday

But before that mishap, a truck had crashed earlier, with its three occupants dead.

It was the sound of the crashes that made the villagers curious the following morning. And when they investigated, they found two vehicles had ended up in the gaping hole the landslide caused.

They found only one survivor.

The spokesman of the Jigawa Police Command, Lawal Shisu Adam, said in the statement Commissioner of Police Aliyu Tafida, his assistant, and other officers visited the scene of the accident.

Tafida ordered an investigation immediately, and the victims were taken to hospitals where they were all confirmed dead.

The bridge was constructed in 1981.

Deputy Governor Umar Namadi also led the state’s commissioner of works, his permanent secretary, and others to the scene.

According to him, the bridge was flagged weeks before the incident, and repair was underway before the deluge destroyed everything.

Work may have to wait till the season is over.