3-year-old boy dies as flood ravages Gombe community

A 3-year-old boy has been confirmed dead while his 2-year-old sibling was critically injured after a room they were sleeping collapsed following the heavy rainfall that ravaged Bajoga town in Funakaye Local Government Area of Gombe State.

It was gathered that the boy died in the Unguwar Fada of the town.

No fewer than 100 houses were also affected by the heavy rainfall which lasted for more than five hours in the area on Saturday.

A resident of Bajoga, Yahaya Haruna, said the rainfall started at about 5:30 a.m. and lasted until 11 a.m.

He added that several residents were injured, while over 100 houses, scores of animals, and property worth millions of naira were also destroyed, mostly in Shara-Mansur and Bodoriyel areas of the town.

Speaking on the incident, the Head of Rescue of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Muhammad Garba, said they were accessing the situation to ascertain the casualty figures and the actual number of houses, livestock, and property destroyed by the heavy downpour.

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Garba added that the remains of the 3-year-old boy have since been buried according to Islamic rites, while his critically injured younger brother was rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Gombe for treatment.

Other residents who sustained varying degree of injuries were receiving treatment at the General Hospital, Bajoga, and other medical facilities nearby.

Meanwhile, Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has commiserated with the family of the deceased and all those who sustained injuries or lost their property.

The governor, in a statement by his spokesman, Ismaila Uba Misilli, ordered the state’s emergency agencies and the local authorities to assess the level of devastation in the affected areas, as well as provide succour to the victims.

The Star