Four
World Bank consultants have drowned in Egbe River in Egbe community of Gbonyin
Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The
four were said to be workers on a World Bank assessment mission to the river
and had commenced work on Tuesday night.
They
were said to have come from the Development Dams and Irrigation Schemes, Kaduna
State and had died when the boat carrying seven of them and their equipment
capsized.
Sources
said four of the occupants of the boat, who did not wear life jackets died
while three others survived.
The
names of the deceased were given as Bamidele Waheed Alayande, Tirimisiyu
Alaran, David Malu and one Albert.
The
three survivors – Charles Ehinlaye, Bukky Ajet and Yahaya Mohammed were said to
be receiving treatment in the hospital.
The
bodies of the dead were fished out by local fishermen, who were said to have
been mobilised by the Chairman of Gbonyin Local Government Area, Mrs. Folasade
Akinrinmola.
The
Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Lanre Ogunsuyi, who had visited the
scene, described the accident as unfortunate.
A
resident said that she was notified of the incident by the traditional ruler of
the community.
She
said, “We immediately mobilised a rescue team and an ambulance and those
wearing life-jackets were rescued. The rescued people were the ones who told us
that others were in the water. Their bodies were later retrieved by the local
fishermen.”
On
their mission to the river, the council boss said, “We believe that they were
there based on some of the proposals we had written on the dam and how it could
be put to use and we believe that the World Bank had started work on the river
based on the calls.”
The
bodies of the victims had been deposited at the mortuary in Ode-Ekiti, the
headquarters of the council.
The
Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State Police Command, Mr. Alberto
Adeyemi, confirmed the incident.
Meanwhile,
the Commissioner for Public Utilities, Mr. Ayodeji Adesua, has commiserated
with the families of the four experts.
Tags
Society