Baby burnt to death with parents, say rescuers

By Precious Igbonwelundu and Chinyere Okoroafor
Some rescuers and survivors, who spoke with our reporter at the scene, described the explosions as horrendous.

A “phone charger’ Lawal Ragi, claimed that the first five bodies from the scene before fire service officials arrived.

Ragi said: “The blast happened around minutes to 9am. It was like scary. It was horrendous. I was the one who used my phone to call fire service. They told me it was Abuja I was calling and they gave me a number to call for Lagos.

“But, the number they gave me was not going. So, I had to use Google and got force service number and called them till about 30 minutes without response.

“That was how about five persons and myself moved in to start helping people. The first five we brought out were dead. Their building collapsed on them. Some of them were just wearing bra.

“Omoniles also joined. We were about 50 in number. We were mostly young people and were saving people, even from houses nearby.

“Then, Red Cross officials later said two were still breathing. They took them away. When this was happening, Fire Service had not even come. They came around past 10am or 11am.”

Another rescuer, who said he initially felt explosions were caused by bomb, stated that more people would have been saved had security operatives allowed them access into the buildings where we were hearing voices.”

He added that he was particularly pissed on sighting the bodies of the family of four pulled out of a car in the premises.

He said: “If they had allowed us, these people would have been rescued. See, this man and his wife and two children that got killed inside their car would have been rescued. We told them (security operatives) that people were still in those buildings, but they did not listen.”

The rescuer, who declined to give his name, said a baby was burnt with parents, shortly after returning from church.

His words: “Another man just came back from church and now, he died with his wife and child. They were burnt beyond recognition. The woman’s hand was outside their window while she was calling for help but they did not allow us go and help her. They did not go either. They were busy pouring water on wood,”

Another survivor, Sandra Alim, said she ran out of her home almost naked with her twins. She added that her husband sustained injuries and was rushed to the hospital.

She said: “They (twins) were dressed and waiting for me to also get ready for church service when we heard the explosions.

“You can see how I ran out. This is the only thing we got out. I have lost everything thing to the fire. It burnt everything. I used to sell water and drinks, but now, I cannot even afford money to buy pure water to drink.”

Another woman, Chioma, who sustained head and arm injuries, also said that many bodies were evacuated by the residents before the arrival of emergency workers.

She said: “I woke up around 8am and was preparing my children for church. Suddenly, I started perceiving fuel odour and before we could even ask what was happening, we heard a loud bang.

“I ran out of the house with just singlet. I first ensured my children and sister’s kids were safe.

“As I was running out, a part of our fence fell on my hand and the particles touched my head. That is the cause of the injuries you see.

“I can tell you that I was fortunate to escape. A lot of people could not make it. So many are still trapped there. The fire was too fast.

“We have never experienced anything like this before. We did not pick anything out of the house. We do not even know what to do again.

“Many parents came here as the news broke. Some of the students of the girls college had head injuries and others leg injuries.

“Some people were already in church too when the blasts happened. Ceilings and roofs fell on people.”