A tragic incident occurred in Tafa town, located off the Abuja–Kaduna expressway in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where a 28-year-old welder, identified as Kabir Usman, lost his life in a tanker explosion.
According to reports, Kabir was carrying out repairs inside the compartment of the tanker truck when the vehicle suddenly exploded, trapping him in the inferno.
The blast, which took place on Friday afternoon, threw the community into panic.
A resident of the town, Ahmad Bunkau, narrated his experience to Daily Trust.
He said, “I was sitting inside a nearby mosque in preparation for the Juma’at prayer congregation when I heard a loud explosion some minutes after 12 pm.
On rushing out, I saw flames shooting into the sky, followed by successive explosions that continued for about half an hour before volunteers managed to put out the fire.”
The situation was further compounded by the inability to get support from firefighters in the neighboring Sabon-Wuse town, located in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State.
A police source disclosed that officials on duty in Sabon-Wuse declined to respond to the emergency, arguing that the scene of the explosion fell within Kaduna State’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the blast also caused chaos at the nearby Tafa Police Division, which shares a fence with the welding workshop.
A police officer revealed that the deafening explosion initially led many of his colleagues to believe it was a bomb attack, forcing them to flee in confusion.
However, normalcy was later restored when the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), SP Ibrahim Idris, mobilized his men and led them to the scene.
They joined local volunteers in extinguishing the flames and recovering the victim’s remains.
The body of the late welder was subsequently taken to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Memorial Hospital in Sabon-Wuse, Niger State, where it was deposited.