Five children drown in River Kaduna

There was confusion in Hanya Danbushiya, Kaduna North Local Government Area, following the drowning of five children after their canoe capsized in the River Kaduna.

They were all canoe paddlers. They were returning to the river bank to pick passengers in the early hours of Tuesday.

 It was gathered that residents of the village immediately organised a rescue party to look for the bodies of the children.

Aminu Ibrahim,  leader of the search party,  gave the name of the  victims as Aliyu Mohammed, 13; Shehu Ismaila, 13; Ibrahim Ladan, 14;  his brother, Musa Ladan, 15; and Mustapha Hamad, 15.

 Ibrahim said, “We know that these boys were very good canoe paddlers and were trusted  by those who use canoe as a means of transport. They left early with full passengers and on their way coming, from what we learnt, the canoe hit an object in the river and then capsized.”

The Village Head of Doka in Danbushiya, Alhaji Musa Liman, described the incident as unfortunate.

 He expressed disappointment over the response of the state fire service, which according to him, failed to respond when contacted.