Three people lost their lives while one sustained injuries in two separate fire incidents reported in Kano State on Friday, the Kano State Fire Service has confirmed.
The agency issued a statement on Saturday, signed by its Public Relations Officer, ACFO Saminu Yusif Abdullahi, detailing the incidents.
The first incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. at the Kura Market junction along Zaria Road, when a petrol tanker carrying 30,000 litres of fuel fell and exploded. The tanker, registered as NGZ 250 XA, reportedly struck a cyclist before bursting into flames.
The statement said the Emergency Response Unit received a distress call from a retired Civil Defence officer, Danlami Muhammad, which prompted immediate deployment of firefighters from the service headquarters.
“On arrival, our men found the tanker fully engulfed in flames. Four people were affected; three were rescued unconscious and later confirmed dead, while the cyclist survived,” the statement read.
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Firefighters, assisted by police and FRSC personnel, managed to contain the blaze and handed over the victims’ bodies to ASP Ahmad Lawan of the Kura Police Division. Two fire trucks were deployed, one from the headquarters and another from the Kura station. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The second fire incident occurred later on Friday, around 2:45 p.m., at Hamisu Plaza on Maiduguri Road in Taruni Local Government Area. By the time firefighters arrived, the upper floor of the two-storey commercial building was already engulfed in flames.
Three shops were destroyed in the blaze, while firefighters successfully saved the remaining shops on the first and ground floors. A fire truck stationed at a nearby trade fair assisted in controlling the fire.
The statement noted that the cause of the plaza fire is also under investigation.
The Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Alhaji Sani Anas, appealed to residents to exercise caution when handling fire, particularly during the harmattan season, and urged motorists to obey traffic rules to prevent avoidable tragedies.