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A technician has been killed in Damaturu, Yobe State, after an iron pipe he was working on exploded on Wednesday.
The explosion also seriously injured a soldier who brought the pipe, eyewitnesses and army officials said.
According to Premium Times, the deafening explosion which echoed
all over the town has caused serious panic as residents feared it was an
attack from Boko Haram insurgents.
It was learnt that the explosion occurred when a local welder was
using heat flame to weld a pipe brought by soldiers, for use as
improvised communication antenna needed for their security vehicle.
It was not clear what exacly made the pipe explode whether it contained explosives.
A witness said as the welder began to work, the pipe exploded killing him and ripping the soldier’s abdomen open.
Iman Ibrahim, who hawks wares around the area, told journalists that “the
explosion had shredded the body of the welder, while the soldier who
was standing close by and giving the welder instructions on what to do
was seriously injured”.
“We all saw the soldier sprawling on the ground with his entire
intestine ripped out of his stomach, and surprisingly he was still
alive and conscious of all that was happening. But I doubt if he would
survive even though he was rushed to the hospital,” said Mr. Ibrahim.
The spokesman of 127 Taskforce Brigade Lieutenant, George Okupe, who confirmed the development to journalists on phone, said “some
soldiers from the troops in Goniri here in Yobe State brought a pipe to
be welded to increase the height of the antenna on one of their hilux
car to the welder and the unfortunate incident occurred in the process
of the job”.
“The incident occurred at about 10.30 am at the shop of the
welder. One of our soldiers was wounded in the accidental explosion with
one civilian. Both have been taken to the Gen. Sani Abatcha Specialist
Hospital Damaturu.”
Some locals suspected the soldiers may have brought in a pipe abandoned by Boko Haram, which had explosives in it.
Mr. Okupe, a lieutenant, dismissed claims that the explosion had anything to do with Boko Haram.
He urged journalists to await the report from the Police Explosive
Ordinance Department who investigating the cause of the explosion.
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