Tragedy at Bauchi Water Facility: Four Workers, Including Father and Son, Die During Cleaning Exercise
By Abdulwahab Muhammad, Bauchi
Four workers at the Bauchi State Urban Water Supply facility at Gubi Dam lost their lives on Sunday during a routine cleaning exercise of the water treatment system.
Among the deceased were a father and his son, identified as Ibrahim Musa, Shuaibu Hamza, Jamilu Yunusa, and Abdulmalik Ibrahim Hamza. According to sources within the agency under the Ministry of Water Resources, two of the victims were permanent staff, while the other two were casual workers.
A staff member familiar with the incident explained that the tragedy occurred while the workers were cleaning the reservoir that supplies treated water to the Bauchi metropolis. “They were inside the reservoir when they noticed some fish in the dirty water. One of them tried to catch a fish that swam deeper into the tank. He followed it and drowned. A second worker attempted to rescue him but also died. The third and fourth workers tried to help in succession, and each of them drowned as well,” he recounted.
Tragically, one of the victims was said to be preparing for his wedding in the coming weeks.
All four victims were buried on Sunday.
At the time of reporting, efforts to reach the Commissioner for Water Resources, Nuhu Zaki, and the General Manager of the Bauchi State Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation, Aminu Gital, for comments were unsuccessful. It was, however, confirmed that the Commissioner attended the burial rites.
The spokesman for the Bauchi State Police Command, Ahmed Wakil, stated that he was still gathering details of the incident and would provide further information in due course.
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