At least, two persons have been confirmed dead from an explosion which rocked the Canadian High Commission office in Abuja.
“It was actually an explosion,” a security source has declared, adding that two people had already been confirmed dead.
It would be recalled that the High Commission situated at 13010G, Palm Close, Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District in Abuja, was earlier engulfed in fire.
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 11:30am.
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 leant that they don’t use NEPA (defunct National Electric Power Authority, now Power Holding Company of Nigeria), but uses 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 12:43pm, said: “I can’t talk to you right now.”
