“It was an explosion,” a security source has declared in reaction to the raging inferno at the High Commission of Canada in Nigeria, maintaining that two people have already been confirmed dead. Pictures circulating online show smoke coming from the building.
The High Commission provides visa and immigration services for those seeking to visit or emigrate to Canada. It also provides services to Canadians visiting and living in Nigeria and to Canadians in Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.
“It was an explosion that has killed two,” the source said.
Further checks showed that it was a generator explosion. The explosion, according to an eyewitness, came with thick smoke from the generator house of the High Commission located on Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja at 11:30 a.m.
The source who spoke with Daily Sun on condition of anonymity said the scenario seemed as if the underground tank of the High Commission exploded.
The source said: “It exploded twice. I learned that they don’t use NEPA (defunct National Electric Power Authority, now Power Holding Company of Nigeria), but use a generator 24 hours.”
Speaking further, the source said a technician at the High Commission and another staff, were alleged to have gone to the generator room, apparently to carry out some repairs when the explosion happened.
“They were burnt beyond recognition, one black (local staff) and another diplomatic staff,” the Daily Sun source further said.
When contacted, an official of the Canadian High Commission who spoke with Daily Sun, declined to comment on the incident. The official who spoke with Daily Sun at 12:43 pm, said: “I can’t talk to you right now.”
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