President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the tragic event that took the lives of several Nigerians at a football viewing centre in Calabar, Cross River on Thursday night. The President today in Abuja commiserated with the government and people of Cross River and football fans nationwide over the unfortunate incident.
A survivor of the tragic incident told newsmen that a transformer near the viewing centre exploded during the match and caused a high-tension cable to drop on the viewing centre.
The President commended the government for the prompt action in setting up a commission of inquiry into the incident, and for its offer of assistance to the victims and their families.
The Cross River Government has said it will foot the medical bills of hospitalized victims of the incident. The Deputy Governor of the state, Professor Ivara Esu, announced the gesture when he visited some of the victims at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital today.
Esu stated that seven persons died in the incident. He said that the dead were among 18 injured who were taken to the teaching hospital, adding that 10 of them were responding to treatment while one was in the intensive care unit. He described the incident as `painful’, but said that there had been misinformation about the casualty figure.
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