38 killed in gas blast at Nigeria lead mine

Jos Plateau: Thirty eight lead miners were killed when gas exploded at a pit in central Nigeria s Plateau state, local sources told AFP. Twenty sev...

Jos Plateau: Thirty-eight lead miners were killed when gas exploded at a pit in central Nigeria's Plateau state, local sources told AFP.

Twenty-seven others were injured in the blast at the Kampanin Zurak mining site in Plateau state's Bashar district, the acting traditional ruler told AFP.

"So far 38 people are confirmed dead and about 27 others have been rushed to hospital," said the leader, Alhaji Aliyu Adamu Idris.

Ibrahim Dattijo Sani, a miner at a nearby pit, told AFP that the victims were below ground in the mine where the explosion struck between 7.30 and 8am.

"We are close to the sites, people were inside the mining pits and suddenly a gas exploded," Sani said.