Eleven military recruits, 10 others die in Jigawa road crash

The police in Jigawa State have confirmed the death of 21 persons, including 11 military recruits, in an accident when their vehicle submerged along the Gwaram–Basirka road in Jigawa.

The Police Public Relations officer (PPRO), ASP Lawan Adam, told newsmen, yesterday, that the recruits were disqualified applicants, who were en route Gombe State.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a bridge collapse occasioned by flood in Gwaram Local Council of Jigawa was reportedly instrumental in the tragedy.

Adam said: “A Hummer bus conveying 18 passengers from Kano to Adamawa and an unregistered lorry conveying three passengers fell into a broken culvert covered by flood.

“Today, Sunday, August 15, around 6.00a.m., the police received a distress call from Radabi village that an accident had occurred along Gwaram–Basirka road. Victims were evacuated to Basirka Hospital, where 21 of the passengers were confirmed dead by medical doctors.”

However, he said one of the passengers, identified as Simon Chinapi, aged 26, of Mubi, in Adamawa State, survived the accident.

The Commissioner of Police (CP), Aliyu Tafida, visited scene and directed prompt and discrete investigation into the incident, the police spokesperson added.