Kano woman soakaway death leaves residents in shock as firefighters recover the body of a 96-year-old who went missing for four days.
Kano woman soakaway death — Residents of Sarai Village in Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area, Kano State, were left in shock on Thursday after the body of a 96-year-old woman was found inside a soakaway pit.
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The Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi, confirmed the incident in a statement released on Friday.
According to him, the agency received a distress call from one Usman Adamu at about 9:27 a.m. on Thursday, reporting that an elderly woman had fallen into a toilet pit in Sarai Village.
“Our rescue team arrived at the scene and discovered the body of a 96-year-old woman identified as Habiba Ado, whose relatives said she had been suffering from mental illness,” Abdullahi stated.
He revealed that Ado had been missing for four days before her remains were found. The family had been searching frantically until the tragic discovery was made.
The spokesman added that the rescue team recovered the woman’s body from the pit, but she was confirmed dead at the scene. Her remains were later handed over to the local Ward Head, Alhaji Musa Muhammad, for burial in line with Islamic rites.
Abdullahi said the relatives appealed to the homeowner to cover the pit to prevent similar accidents.
This latest tragedy follows previous incidents in Kano involving fatal falls into toilet pits. In 2022, a man died while attempting to retrieve his mobile phone from a pit toilet, while in 2023, two brothers lost their lives after suffocating inside a sewage tank.
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The Kano State Fire Service continues to warn residents to properly secure soakaway and toilet pits to avert further loss of life.