Four members of Bayelsa State Football Supporters Club have died in a road crash in Kwale area of Delta State.
They were on transit to Asaba for the Nigerian Women Football League final between Delta Queens and Bayelsa Queens when a bus in the entourage was involved in a fatal crash, leading to the death of four members, with seven others sustaining injuries.
TRACKNEWS gathered that the bus they were travelling in had a burst tyre, somersaulted, resulting in the fatalities.
A source said the injured ones are being treated at the Asaba Specialist Hospital.
The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports, Daniel Igali, the State Director of Sports, Braveman Wodi, and the President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and Chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Tonobok Okowa, had visited the hospital to check on the victims.
Meanwhile, Delta State Governor, Sherif Oborevwori, yesterday, visited surviving members at the hospital.
The governor was received on arrival at the Asaba Specialist Hospital by the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Peace Ighosewe; Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports, Mr. Daniel Igali; Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Kingsley Emu and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Johnson Erijo
Conducting the governor round the male and female surgical wards to see the casualties, Ighosewe took time to explain how the emergency situation was handled.
Speaking to newsmen after the visit, Oborevwori commiserated with the victims and expressed satisfaction with the hospital’s ability to handle their cases effectively.
He said: “We lost four persons and the other seven persons, who sustained injuries, are responding to treatment and they are in stable condition. It is our prayer that they survive.
“I am very sure that God, being on their side, they are going to survive, because the CMD and her team were very proactive and have been doing a great job taking care of them.
“When I got the call yesterday from the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, we immediately sent an ambulance to rescue them in Asaba.
“The doctors were on standby to receive them and they have done very well to keep them in stable condition. This hospital is well-equipped and with the right manpower in place, they can handle any situation, and they have been doing just that. They have operated on some of them and they are all in very stable condition.”
He said the state could not celebrate the victory of Delta Queens because of the incident, adding: “It’s a mixed feeling for us, because we were supposed to be rejoicing that we defeated Bayelsa in the Nigerian Women Football League final, yesterday. We are not too happy because of the incident that occurred, where four persons died and seven injured.”
Oborevwori, who also visited other patients, approved the purchase of artificial legs for a diabetic patient who was amputated at the hospital, following her plea for assistance.
