Plateau Explosion: 3 More People Killed, 112 Hospitalised – Official

The National Emergency Management Agency has confirmed that 112 injured people are still on admission in four hospitals following Saturday’s explosion in Plateau.

The explosion was caused by a chlorine cylinder used for water treatment at Lamingo plant by the Plateau Water Board.

The NEMA North-Central Coordinator, Abdulsalami Mohammed, said that three more persons had died, in addition to the initial five killed by the incident that also razed down many houses around the area.

He named the four hospitals to include Jos University Teaching Hospital, Bingham University Teaching Hospital, as well as Plateau Specialist and OLA Hospitals, all in Jos.

“The situation has normalised, but the area has been cordoned off to ward off further danger,” Mr. Mohammed said.

He described the incident as “very unfortunate”, and said that the community around the water treatment plant would be relocated.

“The community around the plant will be relocated; in fact, we have just been told that the community was initially relocated and compensated, but started coming back gradually.

“This time, once they are relocated, we shall make sure that no one is allowed to return,” he said.

Meanwhile, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau expressed shock at the incident and sympathised with families of the eight persons killed after they inhaled excess chlorine.

Mr. Lalong said that the situation had been contained, and explained that steps had been taken to ensure that the contamination did not affect the quality of water being pumped to the public.

“We have taken adequate steps to cleanse the main water pipes and ensure that water supplied through them is safe for human consumption,” he said.

The governor said measures had also been taken to address the issue of expired components of the treatment plant to guard against a recurrence.

(NAN)

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