11 disqualified military applicants, others killed in Jigawa bridge collapse

At least 21 persons, including 11 disqualified military applicants, were reported killed on Sunday as a bridge collapsed in Gwaram Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

Residents said the bridge collapsed following heavy flooding.

The chairperson of Jigawa Civil Society Forum, Musbahu Basirka, told PREMIUM TIMES that the victims were travelling in a Hummer commuter bus from Kano to Adamawa when the incident happened.

Mr Basirka said the dead include a teenage girl but one of the applicants reportedly survived with leg fracture.

PREMIUM TIMES reported on August 6 how the Jigawa State Government diverted traffic from the highway linking the state and Kano with North-east Nigeria over concerns over the state of a bridge on the route following heavy downpours.

The State Government had urged commuters to use alternative routes to allow work on the bridge.

However, the bridge marked for the work was not the one affected in the Sunday collapse.

Officials in the state are yet to comment on the development.