No fewer than three persons were killed on Wednesday, following yet another fire outbreak in the metropolitan area of Kano Sate.
The inferno occurred at fuel station identified as A.A Filling Station, and located at Bompai Road by Central Hotel Round –About, at about 2.00pm in the afternoon.
The tragic fire incident razed down a tanker containing a 5,500 liters load of petrol as well as burnt some portions of A A Rano Filling Station’s building.
Badly affected, also,was a nearby building complex, “VISA House”, which contained different business offices among them “Visa Travels and Tours” as well as “Visa Business Centre”, both of which were reportedly owned by one Alhaji Aminu Agoha, the state Chairman of IATA
.
A witness told Daily Sun that the fire started while the driver of the truck, his boys and a some staffers of the station were about to discharge the fuel in the heat of the sun.
He told Daily Sun that, “ they were about offloading the fuel when the head of the pipe that was attached to the tank slipped off and fell on the ground which caused the fuel to gush out and explode in flames soon after. The fuel may have exploded because, at that time, the temperature was standing at 42 degree”
The manager of station was prevented from jumping into the fire to rescue his attendant that was burning in the fire”, a witness said adding that the driver of the tank was set ablaze by the fire explosion.
Ironically while the structure at A. A. Rano Filling Station was partially burnt by the fire, it was the “VISA House” complex lying adjacent to the station that burnt the most given that the underground tank was located at the back of the station, near the complex.
Daily Sun observed that workers of the different offices within complex were evacuated before the fire could spread to their posts, although many of them frightfully escaped without their bags and other valuables.
Fire fighters were still battling to contain the fire as at press time. Some private organizations such as Dantata and Sawoe, Gongoni and FAS Agric and Sacks sent in their fire fighting trucks to compliment the efforts of the Fire Service.
Kano State Director of Fire Service, Alhaji Mustapha Riliwanu was not picking his calls when Daily Sun called.
It could be recalled that Kano State has been a victim of several high profile fire incidents in the recent time.