Explosion Kills Three Workers Near BUA Cement Facility In Sokoto

No fewer than three people have reportedly died in an explosion that rocked the vicinity of the BUA Cement Company in Sokoto State.

The blast occurred Friday from a diesel storage tank in the facility Naija News understands.

Confirming the incident in a statement dated Saturday, 19th, BUA group said the explosion happened around 9:00am on Friday.

It said despite the combined efforts of the federal and state fire services, the fire raged and caused damages.

“One of the tanks contained about two million litres of diesel while the other one contained black oil of the same quantity,” a source told SaharaReporters.

Also confirming the incident, another staff who spoke on anonymity told the newsmen that “There is another tank which we are trying to protect against the explosion.”

Meanwhile, the BUA group had said it could not still ascertain the cause of the fire.

The statement read; “We wish to use this medium to inform the public of an isolated fire incident which occurred at a diesel storage tank farm situated in the vicinity of one of our factories in Sokoto. This incident occurred whilst routine maintenance work was ongoing on one of the storage tanks by a third-party contractor.

“Immediately the incident occurred, our emergency management and mitigation services were alerted, and a swift response activated, which prevented any escalation of the incident or damage to our main plant and equipment.

“We are however able to confirm the regrettable loss of three workers of the third-party contractor, who were in the immediate area of the incident.”

The company explained further that while the exact cause of the fire outbreak is still under investigation, adequate safety and control mechanisms have been put in place.

Naija News learnt that members of the Federal Fire Service, State Fire Service, and our fire department are also working together to put the incident under total control.

“We would also like to note that operations at the plant and production which were shut down in the aftermath of the incident as a precautionary and preventive measure, have since resumed at the factory – which was unaffected by the incident. We will keep the public informed through this medium of any new development,” BUA had noted.