Eight people died from inhaling toxic fumes on Saturday and some 100 others were hospitalised after an accidental blast hit a water treatment plant near Jos in central Nigeria, local officials said. A barrel of chlorine exploded in the Dogon Karfe plant in the south of Jos, releasing toxic chlorine vapour, regional spokesman Samuel Emmanuel Nanle said in a statement.
Governor Simon Lalong expressed his sympathy with the families of the eight victims, and wished the 101 survivors who were being treated in hospital a speedy recovery, the statement added. The circumstances of the blast remain unclear though measures have been taken to "guard against future reoccurrence" of the incident, Nanle said.