By Ere-ebi Agedah
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq has expressed grief by the spate of gas explosions in Kano state.
The explosion which occurred on Thursday started after a metal scrapper ignorantly cut open a cylinder containing poisonous gas from a refuse dump has left at least 23 children and 4 adults with various degrees of burns and injuries.
On Thursday, an explosion occurred at a Liquefied Petroleum Gas refilling shop while it was being discharged at Sheka quarters, Kumbotso LGA leaving at least 27 victims with various degrees of burns and injuries. Another poisonous gas leakage which occurred at Sharada Yan tagwaye, Kano Municipal on Friday night also left scores of people unconscious and in distress after inhaling chemicals from a cylinder dismantled by metal scrappers.
While visiting the victims the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital where the victims were immediately taken to by the first responders including the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, SEMA, Fire Service, Red Cross and other stakeholders, the Minister noted that many victims are currently receiving treatment in three hospitals in Kano as a result of the blast and poisonous gas inhalation.
Umar Farouq who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, mni, MPOM promised to immediately assist with the medical expenses of the victims.
“We sincerely sympathize with victims and the government of Kano state on this deadly gas explosion and poisonous chemical leakage incident which has led to the admission to hospital of many affected persons. This is coming on the heels of a similar explosion which occurred three weeks ago in Sabon Gari.
“Many of the victims are in critical condition. Burn is not a minor injury in health. We pray that such an incident will not occur again. We will support the victims in managing their bills as care of burns is also expensive”.
However, the Minister assured that the ministry would put in place sensitization Programmes and mechanisms to ensure that the sale and use of domestic and chemical gas cylinders are safe for users.
“There are a lot of safety measures that need to be put in place to ensure the safety of the public while using or disposing of domestic or industrial gas cylinders. We will draw the attention of relevant authorities to these safety issues”, Umar Farouq said.
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