On Thursday, 5th, February 2020, two young boys die in the separate drowning accidents, the Kano State Fire Service has confirmed. The victims, an 18-year-old teenager, Yusif Malam-Gwani, and an eight-year-old boy, Abdussalam Ibrahim, lost their lives in separate water-related tragedies in Ungogo and Karaye Local Government Areas of the state.
The Fire Service disclosed the incidents in an official statement signed by the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Saminu Abdullahi, and attributed the actions to its Director, Alhaji Sani Anas. The statement was released on Thursday in Kano, outlining how both tragedies unfolded and the emergency responses mounted by firefighters.
According to the statement, the first incident occurred at an open body of water in Bachirawa, Kwanar Madugu, an area in Ungogo Local Government Area. The service said it received a distress call from Sulaiman Abdullahi-Tela on Thursday afternoon, reporting that Yusif Malam-Gwani had fallen into the water. “Upon receiving the report, a rescue team from the agency’s headquarters was immediately deployed to the scene,” Abdullahi said.
Firefighters located Malam-Gwani but, tragically, he was retrieved from the water dead and his body was subsequently handed over to the ward head of Bachirawa Quarters, Jibrin Isah, for further action.
In a separate but equally harrowing incident, the agency was alerted to the drowning of an eight-year-old boy named Abdussalam Ibrahim. The child reportedly fell into a well at Kofar Yamma in Karaye town, located within Karaye Local Government Area. The distress call was made by one of the service’s own staff members, Murtala Magaji. “Upon receiving the report, a rescue team was immediately deployed to the scene,” Abdullahi added.
Despite the rapid response, rescuers were unable to save Ibrahim, who was also brought out of the well deceased. His body was later handed over to his father, Malam Musa-Mudi, the statement said.
In the wake of the twin tragedies, the Fire Service used the statement to call on members of the public to exercise greater caution around hazardous water sources. Abdullahi urged people to adopt safety measures around open wells, open water bodies and other risk areas, especially to protect children, who are most vulnerable to such accidents. “The service expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” he added.
The heartbreaking losses underscore the ongoing risks posed by unprotected and unattended water sources in many communities across the state, raising renewed calls for preventive measures to avert future accidents.
