By Our Correspondent
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, has called on the appropriate authorities to act quickly to stop the spate of explosions and building collapse in the country.
Her call followed a gas cylinder explosion which left many people dead in the Sabon Gari area of Kano city on Tuesday
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which is under the ministry, had earlier announced that a building also collapsed as a result of the explosion while nine dead bodies were recovered from the rubble of the collapsed building close to the explosion site.
A statement by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, quoted Hajiya Sadiya as expressing shock over the incident, while commiserating with the families of the victims and the Kano State government over the tragedy.
The minister described the incident as painful and calamitous, adding: “This is a tragedy. A gas explosion, a collapsed building, death of many victims and persons still trapped in the rubbles… this is a very sad incident.
“I sympathise with the families of the dead and the government of Kano State.
“The spate of explosions in the country recently is alarming and we call on the appropriate authorities to do something quickly to stop further explosions and building collapse in the country.”
The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, was reported to have mobilised excavators and coordinated rescue operations at the site of the incident with the state SEMA, the Nigerian Red Cross, the Police, Civil Defence Corps and other disaster responders to ensure that victims trapped in the rubbles were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment.
Following the explosion on Tuesday, rumours in the social media said it was a bomb that went off, a story denied by the police.
The Kano state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Sama’ila Dikko, said, “It was not a bomb explosion. It was a gas cylinder explosion. We know this because one of the first victims was a welder in the area.
“Four people lost their lives, including three men and one woman, but we didn’t find a student who is a victim of the explosion.”
