Zainab Ali
Three persons lost their lives while another sustained injuries in two separate fire incidents recorded in Kano State on Friday, the Kano State Fire Service has confirmed.
In a statement released on Saturday and signed by the agency’s Public Relations Officer, ACFO Saminu Yusif Abdullahi, the first incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday at the Kura Market junction along Zaria Road.
According to the statement, a petrol tanker conveying 30,000 litres of fuel, with registration number NGZ 250 XA, fell and exploded after reportedly knocking down a cyclist.
The Emergency Response Unit received a distress call from a retired Civil Defence officer, Danlami Muhammad, which prompted the 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 said.
Firefighters, with support from the police and personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps, contained the inferno and handed over the bodies of the deceased to ASP Ahmad Lawan of the Kura Police Division.
Two fire trucks—one from the headquarters and another from the Kura station—were deployed to the scene. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
The second incident occurred later the same day at about 2:45 p.m. when a fire broke out at Hamisu Plaza on Maiduguri Road in the Taruni Local Government Area of the state.
By the time firefighters arrived, the upper floor of the two-storey commercial building was already gutted by fire. Three shops were destroyed, while the remaining shops on the first and ground floors were successfully salvaged.
A fire truck stationed at the ongoing trade fair responded to the emergency. The cause of the plaza fire is also under investigation.
Reacting to the incidents, the Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Alhaji Sani Anas, appealed to residents to handle fire with caution, especially during the harmattan season, and urged motorists to adhere strictly to traffic rules to prevent avoidable tragedies.