TheCable

The death toll from the explosion at the Bodija axis of Ibadan, Oyo state capital, on Tuesday, has now increased to five. 

Fatai Owoseni, special adviser on security matters to Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, announced the development on Thursday when he featured on ARISE TV.

The explosion, which according to Makinde, was caused by illegal miners who stored explosive devices in an apartment in the area, left several houses destroyed.

The governor had on Wednesday said two persons died and 77 injured in the late night explosion.

Temitope Alonge, head of the emergency operations centre (EOP) for the rescue and evacuation of the victims, also put the death toll at five when he spoke with journalists at the scene of the incident on Thursday.

Alonge said two corpses were recovered between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

He said the casualty figure from the incident would have been higher had some residents not sighted the fire that preceded the explosion and ran out of their houses.

“…before the blast came up which was a few minutes. It gave some of them enough time to get out of their houses,” Alonge said.

“In fact, the buildings didn’t collapse at the same time. It could have been worse if it was later in the night when people are sleeping. It would have been a disaster.”

Alonge, a former chief medical director (CMD) of University College Hospital (UCH), said the exact number of people still trapped beneath the rubble is unknown.

He said though the chances of finding survivors dwindles as time goes by, rescue operations would continue till everyone is accounted for.