An explosion at the Canadian High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, killed two people and sent two others to hospital, according to firefighters who responded to the call.
“A fuel truck that was inside the generator building exploded… killing two men who worked for the company that operated the generator,” Mercy Douglas of the FCT Fire Department told CBC News .
“Two people outside the building were injured by the explosion,” he added. “They are hospitalized and undergoing treatment.”
An eyewitness who tweeted video of the fire filmed large plumes of black smoke billowing from behind the building.
In a social media post, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said officials were working to “shed light on the causes of this situation.”
“I send my deepest condolences to the families of the two people killed in this tragedy,” Joly said.
Douglas said firefighters received a call at 11:55 a.m. Monday reporting a fuel truck explosion inside the generator building on Diplomatic Drive in the city’s central business district.
Abuja firefighters brought the fire under control and were back at the station by 1 p.m., Douglas said.
Douglas was unable to confirm whether any of those killed or hospitalized held Canadian citizenship.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, Global Affairs Canada said one of the two people killed was an “employee engaged on site.”
“Global Affairs Canada extends its sympathies to the families of those killed and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” the statement said. “We can confirm that all other staff at the High Commission are safe.”
Global Affairs said it was working with local authorities to determine the cause of the explosion and that the High Commission would be closed until further notice.
“An investigation will be carried out, but at this stage everything points to an accident rather than a deliberate act,” the ministry said.
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