No fewer than 201 residents of Sharada Quarters, Kano, were on Friday night hospitalised after inhaling chemicals from a cylinder dismantled by metal scrappers.
An eyewitness at the scene of the incident said that the victims were rushed to Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Sharada Industrial Hospital and Ja’en Hospital, for urgent medical attention.
It was said that the cylinder chemical explosion occurred on Friday at Sharada Industrial Area.
The Kano Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr Nuradeen Abdullahi, confirmed the incident.
The eyewitness disclosed that the victims were suffocated and unconscious,”
He further disclosed that the victims collapsed and became unconscious after inhaling toxic substances from the cylinder dismantled by some metal scrappers.
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According to him, the chemicals contained in the cylinder escaped into the air and made those who inhaled it become unconscious.
However, the Chief Medical Director of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Dr Hussaini Muhammad, said they received over 70 victims out of which, 65 were now in stable condition.
He added that 35 victims received treatment at Sharada Industrial Hospital and 96 at Ja’en Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Faruk, who was represented by the Humanitarian Affairs Permanent Secretary, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo visited the victims at the hospital.
She commended the hospitals’ managements, NEMA, SEMA and the Nigerian Red Cross, for their support to the victims during the incident and assured that the ministry would support the victims.