… Villagers scramble for safety
…Four bodies recover from the scene
With barely one week after fuel Tanker explosion rocked Dikko, Gurara local government area of Niger state killing over 100 people and injured 69 others, another explosion has rocked the state, this time around at a mining site at Sabon Pegi in Mashegun local government area of the state.
The explosion was said to have occurred in the early hour of Sunday when the miner had just resumed for the day work at the mining site.
The explosion was said to have sent shockwave to the entire Sabon Pegi and its neighboring villages, including New Bussa, headquarters of Borgu local government area of the state, leaving the people scrambling for safety.
A source close to the community who confirmed the incident to Daily Sun on phone, said although the cause of the explosion could not be immediately ascertained, poor handling of explosive devices being used by the mining company in the area for mining activities must have been responsible for the blast.
According to him, four bodies have been recovered from the scene of the blast but the numbers of casualties could be more than that “because the explosion occurred when the miners were just resuming work in the morning.
“Everybody is afraid to go close to the area for now because nobody knows what will happen next, especially when we didn’t know what must have triggered the explosion that shook the entire village, including New Bussa.
“People were just running into the bush because initially they thought the explosion was from the hydro electricity dam in the area because it was very loud. It was later that we were told that the explosion occurred at a mining site at Sabon Pegi in Mashegun local government area which shares border with some villages in Borgu local government area”, he added.
He however ruled out any possible link to terrorist attack in the area, stressing that “no, the explosion occurred at a mining site, the mining company usually use explosives devices for mining activities, so it must be poor handling of these devices that must have resulted in the explosion.
“Although there is history of terrorists activities in the area here but this very incident has nothing to do with terrorists. There is serious mining activities going on in that particular village, and it has been long”, he said.
Meanwhile there is no statement yet from either the state government or the state police command on the latest incident as at the time of filing this report.
