Tragedy struck Sarai Village in Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area of Kano State on Thursday after the body of a 96-year-old woman was discovered inside a soakaway pit.
The spokesperson of the Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Friday.
Abdullahi said the agency received a distress call from one Usman Adamu around 9:27 a.m. on Thursday, reporting that an elderly woman had fallen into a toilet pit in the community.
He said operatives of the service’s Emergency Response Unit, led by the Director, Sani Anas, were immediately dispatched to the scene, where they found the body of the woman identified as Habiba Ado.
According to Abdullahi, the deceased’s relatives disclosed that she had been suffering from mental illness and had gone missing four days before the tragic discovery.
“They confirmed that she had been missing for about four days before her body was found in the pit.
They also appealed to the owner of the house to cover the pit to prevent such incidents in the future,” Abdullahi stated.
He added that the rescue team retrieved the remains from the soakaway but confirmed her dead upon recovery.
The body was later handed over to the Ward Head of Sarai, Alhaji Musa Muhammad, for burial according to Islamic rites.
A similar tragedy occurred in April 2022 when a 40-year-old man, identified as Muazu Garba, lost his life while attempting to recover his mobile phone from a pit toilet at Jirgiya Quarters in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.