Following a heavy downpour in Zaria, Kaduna State, on Monday, two people have been confirmed dead while two others remain missing.
The bodies of an 18-year-old lady, Fatima Sani Dan Marke, a student of the School of Basic and Remedial Studies, Funtua, and another student, Yusuf Surajo, popularly known as Abba, were recovered at the Isan Nabawa Primary School bridge in Tudun Wada, Zaria after they were swept away by heavy flood.
While the body of Surajo was discovered on Monday, Fatima’s remains were recovered the following day, Tuesday. However, Fatima’s three-year-old sister, Haneefa, is still missing.
Fatima’s funeral prayer was held at about 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday at Tudun Jukun, Zaria.
Daily trust gathered that Fatima and her sister Haneefa were returning from their grandmother’s residence in Magume to their family house in Tudun Jukun, they were offered a ride by Fatima’s Islamiyya teacher, identified simply as Mallam Daddy, who conveyed them on his motorcycle.
Tragedy struck at the junction near Nasara Baptist Church along Gaskiya Main Road in Tudun Jukun, the motorcyclist, Mallam Daddy, managed to escape the floodwaters, Fatima and little Haneefa were swept away.
An eyewitness, Mustapha Badamasi Dan Bakano, said Fatima and her sister got off the motorcycle when the driver hit the edge of the drainage and nearly fell into it.
“The teenage lady quickly jumped off the motorcycle, but while attempting to cross the drainage on foot, she slipped and fell into the water with the child on her back. They were instantly swept away by the flood,” he said.
The witness further narrated that another man who rushed to the scene and dived into the water in an attempt to rescue the victims was also swept away.
“He was a resident of Gidan Dangoma in Tudun Jukun, Zaria, and his remains were laid to rest this morning in accordance with Islamic rites,” he said.
Mallam Musa Umar Al-Mishawi, the imam who led the funeral prayer for Yusuf Surajo at Kwarin Dangoma, Tudun Jukun, Zaria, confirmed that the young man sustained an injury in the forehead after hitting an iron rod in the water.
Some residents, however, attributed the latest incident to the heavy downpour that submerged the drainage system along the newly constructed Gaskiya main road.
They explained that while the drainage from Barewa Junction to Gaskiya Corporation was properly covered with concrete slabs, the section extending from there down to the Kamacha River Bridge was left open. It was at this exposed section that the tragedy occurred.
According to residents, if the drainage in that portion had also been covered, the incident may have been averted.
