A fire outbreak on Wednesday gutted sections of Abbatuwa Cemetery in Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State, destroying several parts of the burial ground.
The incident occurred at about 2:02 p.m. when the Kano State Fire Service received a distress call from resident Bashir Hassan, who reported the fire.
Firefighters from the agency’s headquarters were immediately deployed to the scene, where they found that dry grasses within the cemetery had fuelled the blaze, causing it to spread rapidly across parts of the premises.
Confirming the incident in a statement on Thursday, the Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi, said the fire was successfully brought under control, preventing it from spreading to other areas of the cemetery.
“Although the fire was contained, several parts of the cemetery were badly affected,” the statement said.
The fire service noted that no casualties were recorded during the incident.
According to the agency, preliminary investigations suggest that human activities likely caused the fire.
Abdullahi warned members of the public, particularly smokers, against smoking or carrying naked flames within cemetery premises and other areas with dry vegetation.
“We strongly advise residents to desist from any act that could ignite fire in such areas, in order to prevent future occurrences,” he said.
He added that the Kano State Fire Service remains committed to protecting lives and property across the state and urged residents to promptly report fire incidents to the agency.
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