Three feared dead in Kano bridge collapse

ABOUT three persons, including two women were confirmed dead and one injured when an uncompleted pedestrian bridge collapsed along Sheikh Jaafar road near Bayero University Kano old campus in Kano State.

An eyewitness told The Guardian that the bridge collapsed at about 6.pm Sunday evening on a moving commercial taxi, killing the three occupants of the vehicle.

The police have retracted an earlier statement putting the death toll at seven.

Another precast slab on the flipside of the abandoned bridge also fell on a tricycle yesterday at about 9.am, breaking the rider’s legs.

Deputy Managing Director, Kano State Road and Traffic Agency (KAROTA), Alhaji Abdulmuminu Babani, confirmed to The Guardian at the scene of the incident Monday that only three persons who are occupants of the commercial taxi died in the accident.

A resident of the area, Muhammadu Aminu, said the uncompleted bridge, which is under construction “suddenly developed cracks and in less than five minutes it collapsed on the commercial taxi having two female passengers. The women and the driver died instantly.”

While attributing the cause of the bridge collapse to poor quality of work by the contractor, Aminu stated that, “the structure might have become weakened due to months of abandon.”

Another eyewitness who seeks anonymity blamed the contractor for his late response to the incident, which eventually led to another accident Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the Kano State government has ordered immediate demolition of the bridge and compensation for the affected victims.

A statement by Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, signed by Halilu Baba Dantiye, the spokesperson directed the contractor of the project to compensate affected persons.

It was gathered that the state government awarded the project to ROCAD Construction, which later gave the job to SOJECT Construction, a company owned by a prominent Kano politician.