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Nigerian Explosion Death Toll Rises to 600
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| Explosion in Lagos kills
600. |
ABEOKUTA,
Nigeria, Jan. 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - More than 600 people have been confirmed dead, their bodies recovered from a canal complex in Lagos, after people fled an arms dump explosion, state-run Radio Nigeria said Monday.
"More than 600 people have been confirmed dead by our reporters," Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted the radio as saying.
The toll was the first such number provided by an official source.
A Lagos government spokesman earlier said government agencies had recovered more than 200 bodies.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes in Lagos late Sunday after an arms dump close to the Ikeja military barracks exploded sending missiles raining down on the city.
Tens of thousands of people fled to the Isolo area, bisected by a major canal complex, and hundreds drowned.
Many of the dead are children and infants who drowned in two nearby canals as thousands of terrified residents fled the scene of the blasts, BBC reported.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo visited the scene and ordered a full military inquiry into what caused the explosions.
The explosion occurred when a fire at a street market of the cantonment spread to the ammunition dump, causing blasts that sent red balls of fire into the sky at about 8.00 p.m. local time. The blast continued to explode sporadically for over an hour.
The force of the blasts in the Ikeja area near the airport shook buildings and shattered windows in the city center, 15 kilometers (nine miles) away. Most of the fires were finally extinguished early on Monday morning.
An army spokesman told BBC the blaze had started in a market next to the munitions dump.
Eyewitness Nick Braley, who was less than a mile away from the barracks, told the BBC that shells could be seen exploding in the sky. The noise was like thunder, he said.
Another eyewitness, who gave his name as Phil, said he was at his parents' house when he saw a "mighty mushroom plume," which was followed by "an ear-shattering blast that set off car alarms on the usually quiet street."
The barracks are in the middle of a crowded residential area, with one of the city's busiest transport interchanges just outside the gates.
Nigerian military barracks are near the scene of the explosion. Soldiers live there with their wives and families and traders often set up stalls inside.
A soldier told news agencies that he had seen "so many dead bodies" as he fled the scene.
Thousands fled in panic from the army quarters and nearby residential areas as shells exploded across the city.
It appears that in the confusion of the night they rushed headlong into a body of deep water and were simply unable to escape under the sheer weight of people.
A witness said more than 200 bodies had been recovered from the Oke-Afa canal alone.
Hospitals in the area say they are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster.
A senior nurse at the Isolo General Hospital said they had received 152 bodies during the morning. "Most of them are children. The youngest of them is four," said Titilayo Akinogun.
"More bodies have been taken to other hospitals," she said.
Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu is reported to have arrived at the scene to supervise the rescue effort.
A resident in the area, Debo Alder Okunola, told IslamOnline that the blasts were severe as they could be seen from different parts of Lagos. He added that many people were feared dead by the explosion. Residents in the area were seen fleeing for fear of being enveloped in the blasts.
Okunola hinted that thousands of Muslim pilgrims heading for the Hajj, being airlifted from the Lagos international airport, might be delayed as the blasts were close to the airport.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mike Okiro, confirmed that the explosions were caused by a fire incident.
He allayed fears of a possible coup d'etat, noting that the explosions had been noticed only at the Ikeja Army cantonment. Okiro advised residents to move away from the danger zone while concerned authorities move in to rescue victims.
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