Residents of Ojoro area of Owode Ede, Ede North Local Government Area of Osun State were thrown into mourning after three persons drowned in a well located at a construction site around 9:00am on Friday, February 17, 2023.
The deceased, identified as Adebayo Oluwasina,46, said to be a cleric, and two bricklayers, Lateef Adediran, 22, and Waliu Adediran,31, both siblings, met their death while attempting to recover a fetcher that fell into a well.
It was gathered that Pastor Shina, the owner of the site, drowned while attempting to rescue the siblings.
A resident of the community, said Waliu and Lateef were bricklayers engaged by Adebayo at his construction site.
He further said at the commencement of the day’s work, a fetcher being used to draw water fell into a well located within the construction site and one of the two bricklayers, went in search of it but got trapped.
“The younger of the two bricklayers was the one fetching water, and the fetcher fell inside the well. The boy entered into the well to recover it but did not come out. After some minutes, his elder brother, Waliu, went into the well to rescue him, but he also got trapped inside,” he said.
“The owner of the site, Pastor Shina, also went into the well in a bid to rescue the two persons that earlier got trapped, but he also could not come. The incident threw our community in panic and firemen from Osun State Fire Service were called to the scene. They were eventually recovered from the well by the fire service men, but not alive. The incident caused apprehension among the residents.”
The spokesperson of Osun State Fire Service, Ibrahim Adekunle, who confirmed the incident said the three men were brought out of the well dead, adding that they got trapped due to the presence of ammonia gas in the well.
“The victims are; Adebayo Oluwasina (pastor), 46yrs, Lateef Adediran 22yrs, Adediran Waliu 31yrs. They are working within the compound of Mr Adebayo( the third victim) when their drawer fell into the well. The first victim went into the well with the hope of recovering the drawer, but he was trapped down due to the presence of ammonia gas in the well,” he said.
“His elder brother Adediran Waliyu, in an effort to recover his brother, was equally trapped. The owner of the premises also tried his luck to get them out before he got trapped too. It was at this juncture that they alerted the Fire Service.
“We immediately responded and recovered the 3 victims with the coordinated efforts of Men of the State and Federal Services, Police of A’ Division Ede, and the community people. Their bodies were taken to an undisclosed hospital by the O’ Ambulance crew where they were confirmed dead and their bodies handed over to their families.”