Man loses 3 children, wife to flood

A downpour that lasted about three hours on Sunday night claimed five people and washed away many houses in Zaria, Kaduna State.

The worse affected area was Bakatoshi Street in the Magume area of the city where a mother, identified as Fatima Usman, and her three children lost their lives. A student residing in the area was also reported missing, fuelling suspicion that he was also washed away by the rains.

Our correspondent reports that the rainfall, which started about 8:00pm, lasted up to about 11:30pm.

The father of the three children, Malam Jamilu Usman, told our correspondent that destiny took him out of the house before the rainfall began. “I went out to buy medicine for myself shortly before the rain started, leaving my wife, Fatima, and my three children, Halima, Usman and Nana Khadija, behind. I spoke with my wife when the rain started and advised her to be calm and take good care of the children. When the rain was over, I rushed back home only to see that my house and the whole family were washed away by the rains. It was later that the corpses were retrieved,” Usman said.

The deceased were laid to rest yesterday after a funeral prayer.

When contacted at the scene of the incident, Director, Planning, Relieve and Natural Disaster, Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Samson Gaura, confirmed the incident.