The Emergency Operation Centre in charge of the Ibadan explosion has disclosed that body parts were picked from the debris at the epicentre of the blast.
The Head of the Centre for the Bodija Explosion, Prof. Temitope Alonge, made the disclosure on Monday
He spoke while briefing the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who arrived Ibadan, to assess situation after the explosions that rocked parts of the city.
According to Alonge, many building within the 500 metres radius of the explosion had been severely damaged by the blast.
Alonge said: “Many of the buildings within the 500 metres radius did not pass integrity test. We had two fatalities at that time, but on Tuesday night, there were three fatalities. One of them came to help people. Another woman was impaled. Those were identified that day.
“But, on Wednesday, we picked up some body parts. We had to wait for the safety of the medical staff. We were told of a woman, who came out wanting to rescue her mistress.
“Unfortunately, the mistress had been taken to the UCH. She decided to run into the house. She was impaled by the rubbles.”
On his part, Alake said whoever was responsible for the man-made disaster would be punished.
The minister wondered how the suspected miners were able to store the explosives that wreaked havoc for years undetected.
He added that he was surprised at the calibre of people who live at a high profile place like Bodija, who have access to the authorities, that such a destructive weapon could be hidden for such a long time without them alerting the security agents.
Alake said: “There’s no way the residents of this area would not suspect that some one in this area is doing something untoward. They need to report without putting their names but the kernel of the information will be used.”
He noted that Federal Government would not be hasty in making any categorical statement until the forensic report of the investigation was released.
