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From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
No fewer than 150 residents of Mundadu Quarters in Sharada Industrial area of Kano State have been admitted in various hospitals after inhaling some suspected unsafe chemical substance on Friday evening.
The patients, including children and some workers from the neigbourhood, were said to have suffocated after inhaling the said substance, which escaped from a cylinder.
A source who begged to remain anonymous told Sunday Sun in Kano that mental scape collectors have their yard near the area, adding that “they sometimes disposed their metals there or collect their scrap metals from there, preparatory to sending them to the place where they would be recycled.
“On Friday, one of the metal scrappers ripped open a particular cylinder, and some of its chemicals escaped in the air; those who inhaled it became suffocated, and unconscious almost immediately.”
He explained that he was lucky to be far away from the scene, also adding that the son of his best, Umaru, was affected and was hospitalized at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano.
He said that victims were rushed to the Murtala Specialist Hospital, Kano, Jean Hospital, Kano, and to Sharada Industrial Hospital, Kano.
As at press time, medical experts in Kano were yet to determine the exact chemical the victims inhaled. And nobody has died from its effect.
The Chief Medical Director, Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Hussaini Mohammed, confirmed that more than 69 patients were admitted into the emergency unit of his hospital as a result of their exposure to the substance.
