Nine dead bodies have been recovered so far from the rubbles of a collapsed building beside a primary school, following explosions from gas cylinders at Aba Road, in Sabon Gari area of Kano, the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) has stated.
The agency stated this in a statement issued and signed by its spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel.
The statement read, “Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, was at the site of the incident and coordinated the rescue operations. He mobilised excavators being used for the rescue operations and said NEMA team will ensure complete removal of the rubbles to retrieve all trapped persons.
“Furthermore, the DG instructed the NEMA rescue team to remain at the site until conclusion of the rescue and to work together with security agencies and other response organisations present at the location.
“NEMA is currently coordinating the rescue operations involving members of Nigerian Red Cross, military, the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, Kano SEMA.”
The state police command had earlier confirmed that four persons were killed by the gas explosion.Mr Samaila Dikko, the state Commissioner of Police, who confirmed this in a radio and television broadcast, said the gas exploded at a welding point near a primary school on Aba Road in Sabon Gari, Kano.
The Kano State Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Garba, also confirmed that the blast occurred at an animal feed store opposite the primary school, dismissing insinuations that it was a bomb.
