Over 60 injured as tanker explodes in Kano

More than 60 people have sustained various degrees of injuries, following a tanker explosion at a petrol station in Sharad LGA, Kano state. 

The tanker was offloading petrol at the station on Saturday evening, when the incident occurred.

Saminu Abdullahi, spokesman of the state fire service, while addressing journalists on Sunday, said 64 people were confirmed to have sustained injuries in the incident.

According to Abdullahi, fire fighters, passers-by, and workers at the petrol station sustained varying degrees of injuries in the incident.

Abdullahi said one of the workers at the filling station opened one of the tanker compartments, which caused an inferno that firefighters were trying to control, before the explosion occurred.

He noted that 64 victims — including eight fire service personnel — were burnt in the explosion.

Idris Rimi, Kano commissioner for works and housing, said officials of the state’s fire service who were injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.

Rimi also said the accident was as a result of negligence on the part of the filling station, adding that offloading of petrol shouldn’t have been done in the afternoon.

Also, a team from the Red Cross Society in Kano were sighted rendering first aid services and evacuating the victims to the hospital.