Nigeria: Students taking selfies blamed for bridge collapse
Authorities of a northern Nigerian university have blamed students for the collapse of a bridge after they posed to take selfies on it.
The deadly collapse of the bridge on Monday led to the death of three students of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi state.
On Tuesday students of the university staged a protest over the incident to express their anger.
But the vice-chancellor of the University, Muhammad Abdullazeez has revealed the reason for the collapse of the bridge.
He is quoted by the PUNCH as saying that “The reports we received from some of the students were that when the rain had stopped and the students were about crossing, they found the scene excellent for them to take selfies.
So they started from two and before you could realise it, there were more than 30 students on the bridge standing, and that bridge was not meant for people to stand.
Some of the students could not pass and had to also stand, and the bridge suddenly collapsed and that was how we lost three students.”
Abdullazeez added that “The management felt that it was necessary to construct a metal bridge for between 10 and 15 people at a time.
It was not meant for static loads but for dynamic loads, that means, you don’t stand on it, you just pass.”
But Abdullazeez has said that he has ordered an investigation into the incident though.
Source: Africafeeds.com