World Bank Officials Drown

Four World Bank officials have drowned
at Egbe Dam in Egbe Ekiti, Gbonyin
Local Government Area of Ekiti State,
South-West Nigeria, the News Agency of
Nigeria is reporting.
Egbe Dam is the biggest of the six dams
in the state.
Folasade Akinrinmola, the chairman of
the council and the state police
command confirmed the incident to
journalists on Thursday.
Mr. Akinrinmola said the incident which
occurred on Wednesday night involved a
team of seven contractors employed by
the World Bank on an assessment
mission to the dam.
She said the team commenced work on
Tuesday night from a section of the dam
and that the incident happened when
they moved to the other section on
Wednesday.
She said the traditional ruler of Egbe
notified her of the incident.
“We immediately mobilised a rescue
team and an ambulance, and in the
process, those wearing life jackets were
rescued.
“The rescued people were the ones who
told us that others were in the water.
“The bodies of those that had drowned
were later retrieved by the local
fishermen.”
“One of the dead victims was said to be
the son of the leader of the team who
providentially escaped unhurt.
“We believe that they came to Ekiti
based on some of the proposals we had
written on the dam on how it can be put
to use.
“We believe that the World Bank has
started work on the dam based on their
findings,” she said.
The council boss, who described the
incident as sad and unfortunate , added
that the bodies of the dead had since
been deposited at the mortuary in Ode-
Ekiti, the headquarters of the council
area.
Alberto Adeyemi, the Police Public
Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Ekiti
State Police Command, also confirmed
the incident.
“It is true that the boat transporting the
team capsized, four of them died while
three survived,” Mr. Adeyemi, a deputy
superintendent of police, said.
(NAN)by chibaby naija1