ONE DEAD, OTHERS MISSING AS CAR DIVES INTO RIVER IN ILORIN
One person has been confirmed dead while two others are being sought for as a Toyota Avensis car dived into the Oko-Erin River in the Ilorin West Local Government Area, Kwara State, on Saturday.
Reports suggest that five members of the same family were heading for their home in Oko-Erin, Ilorin, when the car conveying them dived into the river at the collapsed part of the bridge linking Taiwo Road with Osere.
An eyewitness, Alhaji Raimi Agbaje, revealed that the bridge collapsed on Saturday as a result of the heavy rainfall which started around 9.30pm and lasted several hours.
Agbaje added that residents of the area were helpless because they could not rescue the victims.
“We waited for the relevant agencies to come, but the victims had been swept away and some of them had died before their arrival,” Agbaje told newsmen in Ilorin.
The Head, Media and Publicity, Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, told reporters that when firemen got to the scene for rescue operations, they retrieved the corpse of one person, identified as Okechukwu Orwabo, and had been searching for the other two men.
However, Adekunle said the Kwara State Fire Service was mobilized to a rescue operation at the Oke-Erin area on Saturday around 10.30 pm, involving a vehicle with five persons inside, while the bridge was submerged by the torrential downpour.
“However, one Mr. Okechukwu Orwabo was found dead by the Coca-Cola Road. The state fire service will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the remaining victims, identified as Chuben Orwabo and Chibike Orwabo, are found soon,’’ Adekunle said.
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