The deceased were identified as Maryam Mansir Adamu and Usman Mansir Adamu, both Primary Five pupils of Jekadafari Primary School; Hauwau Mansir Adamu of Government Junior Secondary School (GJSS), Jekadafari; Aliyu Mansir Adamu of Government Day Secondary School (GDSS), Ahmadu Gombe; and Fatima Mansir Adamu, whose school was not specified.
One of the surviving children, Umar Mansur, an SS1 student, said the tricycle was conveying them to school when it fell, after which the water tanker ran over them.
Umar said he sustained an injury to his leg, while five of his siblings died in the accident.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in Gombe State, Samson Kaura, confirmed the incident, saying corps personnel arrived at the scene after the initial rescue operation.
Kaura said FRSC officials later visited the hospital to ascertain the number of casualties.
A source at the Specialist Hospital, Gombe, said the injured victims and the drivers involved in the accident were taken to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, for medical attention.
The bodies of the five deceased children were deposited at the mortuary.
Father speaks
Speaking after the accident, Mansur said he received a telephone call barely 40 minutes after his children left home for school, informing him that they had been involved in an accident.
He said he was asked to rush to the emergency unit of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, where some of the injured children had been taken.
When he arrived at the hospital, he saw two of his children alive but could not find the other five. He later learnt that the bodies of the deceased children had been taken to the Specialist Hospital, Gombe.
Mansur said one of the children had given his telephone number to the person who called to inform him about the accident.
He said he rushed to the hospital, hoping to find all his children alive, but was devastated when he learnt that five of them had died.
“The tricycle rider told me that the other children were at the Specialist Hospital. When I got there, I was directed to the mortuary, where I saw the bodies of my five children laid out in a row,” he said.
Mansur said the sight was unbearable, adding that he was the only person allowed to see the bodies because his wives were considered too traumatised to be taken to the mortuary.
He said he had been unwell that morning and had a fever, which prevented him from taking the children to school himself. His junior wife, who is the mother of three of the deceased children, therefore contacted a tricycle rider to convey them to school.
The children, he recalled, had left home in good spirits, repeatedly telling him, “Abba, we are going to school.”
“I kept responding, ‘May Allah grant you success.’ I never knew that was going to be the last time I would see them,” he said.
He particularly remembered his son, Usman, who had complained that he did not have a pen to take to school.
Mansur said he told the boy that he would not buy him an expensive pen because he frequently misplaced them. Instead, he gave him money to buy a cheaper one.
“Usman said, ‘Abba, thank you.’ I did not know that I would never see him again,” he said.
The father said the news of the accident nearly made him lose his breath. He added that he was still struggling to come to terms with the loss of five of his children in a single incident.
Mansur, who has 12 children from two wives, said only seven remained following the tragedy.
“Allah gave them to me, and He has taken them back. I am trying to accept it as a trial from Him,” he said.
He added that the children suffered severe head injuries in the crash.
Governor mourns victims
Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, expressed sadness over the deaths, describing the loss of five children from one family as devastating.
In a statement issued by his Director-General of Press Affairs, Ismaila Uba Misilli, the governor extended his condolences to the bereaved family and the Jekadafari community.
He also prayed for the speedy recovery of the three injured children.
The governor urged motorists to obey traffic regulations, maintain safe speeds, avoid dangerous manoeuvres and ensure their vehicles were roadworthy. He also called on drivers to exercise extra caution when transporting schoolchildren.
He prayed that Allah would grant the deceased Aljannatul Firdaus and give their family the strength to bear the loss.
Meanwhile, relatives and sympathisers gathered at the family’s home in Jekadafari to offer condolences.
Daily Trust
