What was meant to be a joyful wedding celebration ended in heartbreak over the weekend as 19 people lost their lives in a ghastly accident in Zamfara State.
The victims, said to be friends and companions of a newlywed bride, drowned after the vehicle conveying them plunged into a river in Gummi Local Government Area.
According to eyewitnesses, the tragedy struck along the Gwalli–Gummi road when the vehicle attempted to cross a broken bridge haphazardly patched with sand and stones.
A resident, Muhammad Fatihu, narrated that the driver, unfamiliar with the terrain, mistakenly drove onto the damaged section of the bridge, causing the vehicle to tilt.
“When the car first got stuck, the driver stopped to check. The bride and a few others came down as well, but before anything could be done, the vehicle suddenly lost balance and fell into the river,” he recounted.
Seventeen bodies had been pulled out of the water by local divers as of Monday, while two remained missing. The bride, however, was among those who narrowly escaped death after alighting moments before the crash.
Residents described the accident as a calamity that turned a day of joy into tears, leaving families and an entire community in shock.
