At least 15 persons have drowned in Rima, Goronyo Local Government of Sokoto State, when a vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a river on Friday morning.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the deceased were said to be travelling back to their hometown, Dan-Wawaru, from Takakume, a village near Rima.

Spokesman of the Sokoto Police Command, Al-Mustapha Sani, said the travellers had gone to the village to attend a ceremony.

The spokesman added that the vehicle was conveying 17 persons at the time of the accident and that only two survived.

Mr. Sani, who said that the cause of the accident had not been ascertained, confirmed that the remains of the deceased had been evacuated by the Goronyo police division.

He said “they have since been buried by their respective families according to Islamic rites”.

The Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, had condoled with the families of the deceased on Friday.

(NAN)