What should have been the quiet end of a night shift turned into unimaginable tragedy.
At least 37 miners are believed to have died after a suspected carbon-monoxide leak at a lead and zinc mine in Plateau State, central Nigeria.
The incident happened just before sunrise near the town of Wase, at a site operated by Solid Unity Nigeria Ltd.
Toxic gas is thought to have built up in poorly ventilated tunnels, silently filling the underground shafts.
Mine Safety Questions
By the time the morning shift arrived around 6:30am, many workers had already collapsed.
“It was carbon-monoxide gas that leaked and killed them,” miner Safiyanu Haruna told the BBC.
“There was no rescue for them at the time.”
More than 20 others were pulled out alive and rushed to hospital.
Security forces have since sealed off the mine, though investigations are only beginning — slowed, locals say, by ongoing insecurity in the region.
The victims, mostly men in their 20s to 40s, were buried quickly in line with Islamic tradition, leaving a grieving community searching for answers.
Mining accidents are tragically common in Nigeria.
But each time, the same question echoes: how many more lives must be lost before safety becomes more than an afterthought?
