Eight persons have died in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital after a distribution cable belonging to Power Holding Company of Nigeria snapped and landed on traders at the Apata Market.
The busy market is located in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area.
NigerianEye gathered that the cable snapped and fell on some vegetable sellers at the Agbekoja section of the popular market around 7a.m on Monday.
Among the victims is a pregnant woman simply identified as Tawa, said to be the only child of her mother.
Another female casualty was a nursing mother who was electrocuted while her one-year-old son survived.
Though, some of the traders claimed that eight people died, the spokesperson for the state police command, Mrs. Olabisi Ilobanafor, confirmed the incident, saying only five people died while the survivors were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
However, a one-year-old boy, who was strapped to his mother’s back, escape the early morning death unhurt.
One of the rescuers, an Okada rider, said they rescued the baby when they saw the mother burning. He said: “We used a stick to separate the baby from the mother. It happened around 5.50 a.m, when the wire just came down suddenly. There was no time for the victims to run.”
PHCN reactsReacting to the incident, Principal Affairs Manager, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Jide Oyenuga, said external investigators had been engaged to ascertain the cause of the death.
A survivor, Afusat Abiade, who was rushed to Garden of Eden Hospital, said she was the first to be brought to the hospital before other dead victims were brought.
Mean time, authorities of Ibadan South-West Local Government had ordered the immediate closure of the market and declared three days mourning to sympathise with the victims’ families.
A youth leader, Mr. Wahab Bamidele, led other youths to rescue the survivors. He told newsmen that the wire snapped as a result of the rain that fell yesterday morning.
However, a one-year-old boy, who was strapped to his mother’s back, escape the early morning death unhurt.
One of the rescuers, an Okada rider, said they rescued the baby when they saw the mother burning. He said: “We used a stick to separate the baby from the mother. It happened around 5.50 a.m, when the wire just came down suddenly. There was no time for the victims to run.”
PHCN reactsReacting to the incident, Principal Affairs Manager, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Jide Oyenuga, said external investigators had been engaged to ascertain the cause of the death.
A survivor, Afusat Abiade, who was rushed to Garden of Eden Hospital, said she was the first to be brought to the hospital before other dead victims were brought.
Mean time, authorities of Ibadan South-West Local Government had ordered the immediate closure of the market and declared three days mourning to sympathise with the victims’ families.
A youth leader, Mr. Wahab Bamidele, led other youths to rescue the survivors. He told newsmen that the wire snapped as a result of the rain that fell yesterday morning.
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