About 50 persons escaped death on Tuesday in a market in Talata-Mafara in Zamfara state when a gunpowder explosion occurred.

The affected victims have been transferred to the Usman Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, for medical treatment.

According to a medical worker at the General Hospital Talata-Mafara, the victims were brought to the hospital for treatment due to various degrees of injuries they sustained in the explosion but were transferred to the Usman Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital Sokoto.

According to him, the patients have to be evacuated to Sokoto because they could not be treated at the General Hospital Talata-Mafara due to lack of facilities.

He explained that the victims were seriously injured by the explosion and needed proper care.

A source and an indigene of Talata-Mafara town, explained that the victims were injured as a result of a gunpowder that exploded.

According to him, “The incident occurred in the afternoon when the activities of the market were going on.”

He explained that one of the locally made guns exploded in the market and hit a powdered material being sold for locally made gun owners, stressing that one of the vigilante group members came to buy the powdered material for his gun and suddenly his gun exploded and hit the substance. As a result, the whole area went ablaze.

The chairman of Talata-Mafara Local Government Area, Yahaya Yari, stated that he was in Sokoto with the affected persons for medical treatment, but declined further comments.

ASP Yazid Abubakar, the spokesperson for the state police command, could not be reached on phone.