No fewer than four officials of the World Bank had been reported to have drowned in Egbe Dam in Egbe Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
Egbe Dam is the biggest of the six dams in the state.
The chairman of the council, Folasade Akinrinmola, and the state police command, confirmed the development to newsmen on Thursday.
Akinrinmola said the incident, which occurred on Wednesday night, involved a team of seven contractors employed by the World Bank on an assessment mission to the dam.
She said the team had commenced work on Tuesday night from a section of the dam and was moving to the other section when the incident occurred on Wednesday.
She said the traditional ruler of Egbe notified her of the incident.
Akinrimola said, “We immediately mobilized a rescue team and an ambulance and in the process, those wearing life jackets were rescued.
“The rescued people were the ones who told us that others were in the water. The bodies of those that had drowned were later retrieved by local fishermen. One of the dead victims was said to be the son of the leader of the team, who providentially escaped unhurt.
“We believe that they came to Ekiti based on some of the proposals we had written on the dam on how it can be put to use. We believe that the World Bank has started work on the dam based on their findings.”
The council boss, who described the incident as sad and unfortunate, added that the bodies of the dead had since been deposited at the mortuary in Ode-Ekiti, the headquarters of the council area.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State Command, Alberto Adeyemi, also confirmed the development.
Adeyemi, a deputy superintendent of police, said, “It is true that the boat transporting the team capsized, four of them died while three survived.”
