Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central, in Minna)
To stem further loss of lives, Niger State Health team has moved swiftly into action to salvage the lives of some of the victims affected by the recent tanker fire incidence that occurred at Dikko junction in Gurara local government area on Saturday.
This followed earlier directives by Governor Mohammed Umar Bago that free medical services and sufficient health workers be deployed to all the facilities where the conditions of the victims are being managed.
Special Adviser to Governor Bago on Digital Media and Strategy, Alhaji Abdullberqy Usman Ebbo, disclosed this on his social media handle X, adding that an 18-man multi-disciplinary medical team from the Ministry of Health has swung in to action and are l providing first hand medical care for the victims.
The special team to ensure that more lives are not lost due to complications arising from fire burns is led by the state Commissioner of Secondary and Tertiary Healthcare, Dr. Tukur Bello, supported by the Special Adviser on Health, Dr. Shehu Ahmed and the Special Adviser on Special Duties, Dr. Murtala Bagana among others.
Abdullberqy also hinted that the medical team are on ground to provide urgent medical relief to the victims by visiting both the Suleja General Hospital and Shehu Musa Yar’adua Hospital, Sabon-Wuse in Tafa local government areas respectively to attend to all magnitude of cases.
Upon assessment of current conditions and of patients, significant number of them, according to the Special Adviser would require intensive care and referred to tertiary healthcare facilities in Abuja.
Our correspondent however reports that, a total of 43 patients all male were said to have been admitted at the Suleja General Hospital, out of which 7 died between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Three discharged and are recuperating in their various homes, ten with severe burns referred to Abuja while the remaining 23 are responding to treatment at the health facility.
Also at the Sabon-Wuse Hospital where 23 patients were initially admitted, 3 died within eight hours of admission, relatives of 19 of the patients signed a consent form to be discharged against medical advice to enable them access proper medical care elsewhere while one patient in critical state to be referred to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, Abuja.
Due to the nature of the disaster and the nature of the busy Dikko junction, there are also fears that the death toll may have reached 90 or more as at Sunday evening because not all the victims are documented by the state government. NNL.