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Closure of Canadian embassy in Nigeria caused by tragic fire incident
The Foreign Ministry of Ottawa announced that an investigation is underway to determine what caused the explosion that claimed two lives.
An explosion at the Canadian Embassy on Monday left two people dead and two seriously injured in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Ottawa has halted all activities and temporarily closed the embassy.
In a statement published on X (formerly Twitter), Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that an inquiry has been opened into the fire incident at the High Commission in Abuja.
We are able to verify that our High Commission in Nigeria had an explosion. Now that the fire is out, we’re trying to figure out what went wrong. Joly said on Monday, “I send my sincere condolences to the families of the two people killed in this tragedy.”
The explosion was triggered by a malfunctioning generator in the embassy, according to a statement released by local media and signed by Nkechi Isa, a spokesman for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Service.
While the second power-generating set was being serviced, one was reportedly operating. The rescue service was quoted in The Punch newspaper as claiming that the fire started when the 2000-liter diesel tank in the generator house exploded.
It also stated, “Two of the employees maintaining the generator suffered fatal injuries, and two others survived and are being admitted to the National Hospital Trauma Centre with severe burns.”
The Canadian High Commission in Nigeria issued a notice of closure and discouraged unnecessary travel to the most populated country in Africa, declining to comment on the incident.
It advised against making unnecessary trips to Nigeria, especially to Abuja, citing the country’s unstable security situation as well as the high danger of criminality, terrorism, armed attacks, and kidnappings.
Two local employees and two police officers were killed earlier this year when gunmen assaulted a convoy of US embassy vehicles in southeast Nigeria.
On Friday, Washington issued an advisory to US residents to postpone their trip to Nigeria, citing “credible information that there is an elevated threat to major hotels in Nigeria’s larger cities.”
Just one day after the US statement, the UK, which estimates that 117,000 British visitors visit Nigeria annually, revised its travel advise, citing terrorist incidents.
