In the Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State on Sunday, a gas cylinder explosion was reported to have killed no fewer than five individuals.
Accroding to Punch, Usman Muhammad, an eyewitness who confirmed the explosion over the phone.
According to Muhammad, the explosion happened at a welding business.
He said that two artisans were among those killed in the incident.
He grieved that such a catastrophe could take place in a location that had been besieged by bandits.
“The explosion killed those people by mutilating their bodies. Their bodies were later evacuated by policemen drafted to the scene,” he said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Sanusi Abubakar, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed to Punch that the explosion occurred on Sunday afternoon, resulting in the death of four persons.
He said the explosion was not connected to the security challenges being witnessed in the area, “but as a result of an explosion from a cylinder in the shop of the local welder in the area.”
Abubakar said four persons died while three others were injured.
The injured persons, who are in critical condition, were said to be receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the state.
When contacted, the chairman of the local government, Abubakar Danali, confirmed the incident but could not ascertain casualty figures because he was not in town at the time of the explosion.