ABUJA: At least eight worshippers were killed and 16 others injured early Wednesday morning after a man attacked a mosque with a locally made explosive in northern Nigeria’s Kano state, resulting in a fire outbreak, the police said.
The suspect, a 38-year-old local resident, confessed that he attacked the mosque in Kano’s remote Gadan village “purely in hostility following (a) prolonged family disagreement,” police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna said in a statement on Wednesday.
Eight of those injured died later in a hospital, Haruna later told local Channels Television on Thursday. Four children were among the injured worshippers, although it was not clear if any of the children died.
The incident caused panic in Kano, northern Nigeria’s largest state, where periodic religion-related unrest has occurred over the years, sometimes resulting in violence.
The suspect invaded the mosque with “a locally prepared bomb and exploded it,” local police chief Umar Sanda told reporters. “It has nothing to do with terrorism.”
Footage broadcast by the local TVC station showed charred walls and burned furniture in the mosque, the main place of worship for Gadan village in Muslim-dominated Kano state.
Local media also reported the worshippers were locked inside the mosque, making it difficult for them to escape.
“Some children ran for their lives with fire all over them. We had to put water to quench it,” Hussaini Adamu, a resident, told TVC.
The police cordoned off the scene while the injured were rushed to a hospital in the state capital.
“The disagreement (was) over sharing of inheritance of which those that (the attacker) alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment and he did that for his voice to be heard,” the police statement said.
Nigeria mosque attack leaves 8 people dead, police say motive was family dispute
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Nigeria mosque attack leaves 8 people dead, police say motive was family dispute
- Four children were among the injured worshippers
- The incident caused panic in Kano, northern Nigeria’s largest state, where periodic religion-related unrest has occurred over the years
Death toll in Karachi shopping plaza fire rises to 10 as search continues for dozens missing
- Mayor Murtaza Wahab said on Monday that four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10
- The fire broke out late Saturday. According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, families reported about 60 people missing
KARACHI: The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, rose to at least 10 after rescuers recovered four more bodies from the badly damaged building during an overnight search for dozens of people reported missing, officials said Monday.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory Gul Plaza late Sunday nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building to rescue those trapped there. Mayor Murtaza Wahab said four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10.
Local media reported that at least 14 people died in the blaze.
The fire broke out late Saturday and spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, the city’s chief rescue officer.
On Sunday night, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said families had reported about 60 people missing, prompting authorities to launch the search operation. Relatives of the missing gathered outside the heavily damaged building Monday, many in tears, witnesses said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garments factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
