At least 19 wedding guests have been confirmed dead after a tragic accident in Gwalli Village, Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The incident occurred on Saturday when a commercial bus transporting a bride and several passengers plunged into a river while attempting to cross a collapsed bridge.
The ill-fated passengers were said to be travelling from Fass Village in Gummi LGA to Kebbi State, where the bride was to be officially handed over to her husband after the wedding Fatiha ceremony.
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According to Nigerian Tribune, an eyewitness, Muhammad Fatihu, revealed that the driver was not familiar with the terrain. He explained that villagers had used sandbags and stones to create a temporary passage across the broken bridge, but the vehicle slipped off the makeshift crossing and fell into the river.
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A relation of one of the deceased, Ummaru Tela Gwalli, alleged that the bus was overloaded. He added that the driver became unsettled when the vehicle scraped against the rocks used to fill the collapsed section of the bridge, which led to the fatal accident.
It was gathered that the bride and a few passengers, who had stepped out of the bus before the mishap, survived. Sadly, the remaining occupants drowned after the bus overturned in the river.
Meanwhile, the Zamfara State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed the tragedy, stating that 17 people, mostly women, were killed in the crash.
The FRSC Public Education Officer in the state, SRC Isah Aliyu, explained in a statement that the accident happened along Gwalli Road after a bridge, which had caved in earlier in the week, collapsed further.
Aliyu noted that local residents had tried to provide a temporary route with sandbags to allow vehicles passage, but the effort proved unsafe and resulted in the deadly incident.
Speaking on the tragedy, the FRSC Corps Commander, Maaji, advised drivers to avoid travelling at night, desist from overloading vehicles, and always confirm road conditions before embarking on any journey.
