Five travellers have reportedly been electrocuted in Essa village, Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State. The incident, which occurred around 7am on Monday, left three others with severe burns. A resident of the area, Mohammed Baba, told our correspondent that the victims were traveling from Zaria in Kaduna State to Lagos when the truck, loaded with goods and conveying the passengers, came into contact with a high-tension wire while attempting to dodge potholes.
“It is a high-tension cable that connects Agaie. This is not the first time vehicles have come in contact with the same wire. “One of the high-tension lines has loosened, so heavy-duty vehicles often come into contact with it.
“In this particular incident, the victims were on a truck loaded with goods, and when the wire touched one of them, it electrocuted the others,” he said. He added that both the bodies of the deceased and the injured victims were evacuated to the police station in Badeggi, where their mobile phones were used to contact their families. Residents have called on the Federal Government to take swift action to reconstruct the road and address the dangerous power line in order to prevent further loss of lives. When contacted, the Niger State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Aishat Sa’ad, promised to respond but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.