At least 20 athletes from Kano State contingent have been confirmed dead following a motor accident at Dakatsalle Bridge in the Kura Local Government area of the state. Kura is about 18 kilometres to the team’s destination, which is Kano, the state capital.
The athletes were said to be returning from the just concluded National Sports Festival, held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission, Umar Fagge, who confirmed the incident, said that many other athletes sustained various degree of injuries following the fatal accident on Saturday.
He explained that the bus conveying 30 athletes fell from the bridge, leading to the death of the 20 athletes.
‘As I am talking to you now, we have counted 19 dead bodies’, Fagge said.
A former Vice President of of the Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria, Ado Salisu said that the victims were still being conveyed to Kura General Hospital.
The Public Relations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Kano Sector Command, Abdullahi Labaran, also confirmed the accident.
He however said that he could not confirm the number of deaths and injured persons.
‘We just received the report of the accident, so, I cannot confirm the exact number of casualties at the moment’, he added.
Kano State finished 13th on the medal table winning six gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze medals.
The festival ended two days ago.
