Four officials of the World Bank have reportedly drowned at Egbe Dam in Egbe Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reported that the Chairman of the Local Government, Folasade Akinrinmola and the Ekiti state police command confirmed the incident to journalists on Thursday.

According to Akinrinmola, the incident occurred on Wednesday’s night during an assessment mission to the dam by a team of seven contractors employed by the World Bank.

Egbe Dam is reportedly the biggest of the six dams in Ekiti state.

Akinrinmola said that it was the traditional ruler of Egbe that notified her of the incident.

“We immediately mobilised 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 the 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.

Akinrinmola described the incident as sad and unfortunate, adding that the bodies of the dead had since been deposited at the mortuary in Ode-Ekiti, the headquarters of the council area.

DSP Alberto Adeyemi, the Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, also confirmed the incident.