No fewer than 23 persons were feared killed in multiple crashes, when their vehicles plunged into a collapsed bridge at Yar’randa village in Charanchi Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The first crash involved a bus conveying 24 passengers which plunged into the bridge few minutes after its collapse on Monday night.
According to the witness, the bridge collapsed at about 9.30p.m. due to heavy downpour and moments after the bus with registration number XA 328 KZR, conveying passengers from Kano to Katsina, fell into it.
The villagers said efforts made to alert the bus driver was to no avail as he was on high speed.
The bus and the passengers were swept by the heavy current and some of the dead bodies were recovered miles away in Ajiwa area, the villagers said.
Only two of the passengers in the bus, including a student of Federal College of Education, Bichi in Kano state, survived the incident.
The student, Jamilu Aminu-Elder, who was seen at the scene, could not speak due to shock.
The police said 10 bodies had been recovered and deposited at the mortuary of General Hospital, Kankia while the search for 12 others was ongoing.
Similarly, another person was reported dead when the vehicle he was in, a Mitsubishi truck, fell into the water at about 5.00a.m. on Tuesday.
Two other persons in the vehicle, however, survived, while a motorcycle rider with a passenger, who also plunged into the collapsed bridge, were rescued alive.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bala Senchi, who visited the scene, confirmed the story, but said the police were not clear on the number of death as the search for the missing passengers was still on.
He said policemen had been deployed to the area to control traffic and prevent further accident at the scene.
Malam Rabi’u Ibrahim, the Permanent Secretary, state Ministry for Works and Housing and an official of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had visited the scene to assess the damage.
Ibrahim said a report would be forwarded to the Katsina State Government for prompt intervention.
He condoled with the families of the deceased persons and prayed for the repose of the souls of those who died.
