Nine unexploded bombs have been recovered by police operatives from the scene of Saturday’s deadly explosion at Yongxing Steel Company in the Mariri area of Kano State, along the Ring Road.
The explosion, which left five people dead and several others injured, has been traced to military-grade ordnance mistakenly brought into the steel facility along with scrap metal.
In a statement by the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Hussaini Abdullahi, the police said two more unexploded ordnances were recovered after an earlier discovery of seven.
In addition to the earlier recovered seven UXOs, 2 UXOs were later recovered from the scene, bringing it to a total of nine,” he said.
He explained that the police Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit from the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) division carried out a post-blast investigation and confirmed the explosion was caused by an Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), not an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as initially suspected.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, confirmed the tragic loss of lives and revealed that a trailer transporting what is believed to be a military ordnance may have been involved.
“I received a call that something serious had happened. When I arrived, I found that it was a suspected explosion, possibly a military mortar bomb. Fifteen people were injured, and unfortunately, five died,” he said.
He explained that the injured victims were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent medical attention.