21 athletes killed in Nigeria road crash
ABUJA: A bus crash on a Nigerian highway on Saturday killed 21 athletes returning from a national sports tournament, with authorities saying the accident might have been the result of driver fatigue or excessive speed.
For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the afternoon crash, which did not involve other vehicles, 'might have occurred as a result of fatigue and excessive speed' after a long overnight trip.
The athletes were returning to Kano, in Nigeria's north, from the 22nd National Sports Festival, held around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to the south in Ogun state.
President Bola Tinubu had recently said the games, which included sports ranging from wheelchair basketball to traditional west African wrestling, represented 'the unity, strength and resilience that define us as a nation.'
Road accidents are common on Nigeria's poorly maintained roads due largely to speeding and a disregard for traffic rules.
Last year Nigeria recorded 9,570 road accidents that resulted in 5,421 deaths, according to FRSC data.
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Al Arabiya
18 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Road accident in northern Nigeria kills 22 athletes returning from a sports festival
A bus veered off a bridge in Nigeria's northern state of Kano, killing at least 22 athletes returning home from a sports festival and leaving several other passengers injured, the state's governor said. The cause of the accident, which happened on Saturday, was not immediately known. The athletes had taken part in the Nigerian National Sports Festival in the southern state of Ogun over the last week. The driver appeared to lose control of the bus and the vehicle, with over 30 passengers, plunged off the Chiromawa Bridge on the Kano-Zaria expressway, according to Abba Kabir Yusuf, the governor of Kano. Survivors of the crash were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Yusuf said the athletes, who were accompanied by their coaches and sporting officials, were representing Kano at the sports festival, a major multi-sports event that bringing together athletes from the country's 35 states every two years. The governor declared Monday a day of mourning for the state. The families of the victims are to receive 1 million naira (about $630) and food supplies as support, Kano's deputy governor, Aminu Gwarzo, said. Road accidents are frequent in Africa's most populous country, in part due to poor road conditions and lax enforcement of traffic laws. In March, at least six people died near Nigeria's capital of Abuja after a trailer crashed into parked vehicles and burst into flames.
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Rescuers Fan Out After Nigeria Flooding Kills More than 150
Search teams fanned out Saturday from the epicenter of deadly flash flooding in Nigeria, the Red Cross said, as the death toll from heavy rains in the north-central market town of Mokwa topped 150. The sharp rise in the toll came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometers (six miles) from the town, where more than 250 buildings were levelled and two bridges were swept away, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, told AFP. Husseini said the toll could rise further, with bodies being swept down the powerful Niger River. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger state, told AFP that search teams were heading toward Jebba, on the opposite side of the waterway's swampy banks. Mokwa was hit by torrential rains Wednesday night into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000 people, Husseini said. There were 121 injured in hospital, Adamu said, and more than 100 people were missing. Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Heavy rains and poor infrastructure lead to flooding that wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country. Scientists have also warned that climate change is fueling more extreme weather patterns. 'We can't give up' Roads were still inundated in Mokwa on Friday, an AFP journalist saw, with Husseini saying his team would need excavators to reach bodies feared buried under the rubble. Residents in the town, around 350 kilometers by road from the capital Abuja, were still searching for relatives. In some cases, families were missing a dozen people. e can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out," said Adamu, the Red Cross chief. "If there were some bodies that were carried away by the flooding, we'll find them in the farmland on the Jebba side." According to a tally provided by Husseini, 151 people were killed, 3,018 were displaced, 265 houses were destroyed and two bridges were washed away in the busy market town. Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters Friday: "We lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything." Floods in Nigeria are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. "This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear," the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said in a statement. Complicating the search for missing persons was the presence of a large group of travelers staying overnight in a Mokwa mosque when the rains hit, Adamu said. The building collapsed and it was still unknown where the people had been travelling from. President Bola Tinubu said the disaster response was being aided by security forces. - Warning sounded - The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. In 2024, floods killed 321 people across 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, according to NEMA. Describing how she escaped the raging waters in Mokwa, Sabuwar Bala, a 50-year-old yam vendor, told reporters: "I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I'm wearing now. I couldn't even save my flip-flops." "I can't locate where my home stood because of the destruction," she said.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
21 athletes killed in Nigeria road crash
ABUJA: A bus crash on a Nigerian highway on Saturday killed 21 athletes returning from a national sports tournament, with authorities saying the accident might have been the result of driver fatigue or excessive speed. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the afternoon crash, which did not involve other vehicles, 'might have occurred as a result of fatigue and excessive speed' after a long overnight trip. The athletes were returning to Kano, in Nigeria's north, from the 22nd National Sports Festival, held around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to the south in Ogun state. President Bola Tinubu had recently said the games, which included sports ranging from wheelchair basketball to traditional west African wrestling, represented 'the unity, strength and resilience that define us as a nation.' Road accidents are common on Nigeria's poorly maintained roads due largely to speeding and a disregard for traffic rules. Last year Nigeria recorded 9,570 road accidents that resulted in 5,421 deaths, according to FRSC data.
