Three more die, 112 hospitalised, in Plateau chlorine cylinder blast

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday said three more persons had died in addition to the initial five killed by the Saturday’s explosion of Chlorine Cylinder used for water treatment at Lamingo plant of the Plateau Water Board.

NEMA North-Central Coordinator, Alhaji Abdulsalami Mohammed, told newsmen that 112 injured persons were on admission in four hospitals following by the incident that also razed down many houses around the area.

He named the four hospitals to as 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,” 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, Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has expressed shock at the incident and sympathised with families of the eight persons killed after they inhaled excess chlorine.

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.

Eight (8) persons were killed in the explosion, which occurred from the Chlorine Cylinder of the Plateau State Water Board Treatment plant located at Dogon Karfe, Jos-South Local Government Area of the state on Saturday.

Governor Lalong had through his media aide, Emmanuel Nanle Saturday expressed deep sympathy with the families of eight victims (8) who died as a result of the excess chlorine inhalation from the blast.