By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo
A luxury travel bus allegedly powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) exploded at Mando Motor Park in Kaduna in the early hours of Sunday, triggering panic among nearby residents and transport operators.
Sources at the park said the bus, which was parked at the time of the incident, went up in flames following the explosion, with two other buses belonging to the same transport company also affected.
Despite the impact, no casualties were recorded, as the vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the incident.
A commercial driver at the park, who spoke on condition of anonymity, dismissed fears of a bomb blast, attributing the explosion to a possible CNG-related fault.
“Yes, it happened during the night. It was not a bomb; we suspect it is related to the CNG. No one died or was injured. The affected buses were parked,” he said.
Similarly, a manager with one of the logistics companies operating within the park confirmed that the buses were stationary when the explosion occurred.
According to him, the affected vehicles were newly acquired and scheduled to commence passenger boarding later in the morning.“Thank God no one was inside the vehicles. They were parked to board passengers this morning,” he said.
Security operatives, including personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, were said to have visited the scene and commenced preliminary investigations to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion.
At the time of filing this report, the Police had yet to issue an official statement on the incident.