Tragedy struck as no fewer than 20 atheletes and officials have died in road accident while returning from the national sports festival tagged Gateway Games 2024 in Ogun State.
The tragic incident occurred on Saturday in Dakatsalle town, about 50 kilometres from Kano, as the team was approaching the final stretch of their journey home.
Those who lost their lives in the crash include athletes, a journalist, medical personnel, and sports administrators, according to preliminary reports from emergency responders and eyewitnesses.
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The Chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission, Umar Fagge, who confirmed the incident, said many other athletes sustained various degree of injuries following the fatal accident on Saturday.
“As I am talking to you now, we have counted 19 dead bodies,” Fagge said.
Similarly, Ado Salisu, a former Vice President of SWAN, said victims were still being conveyed to Kura General Hospital.
When contacted, 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.
