Explosion Rocks Gombe Bus Station, Casualties Feared
An explosion rocked a bus station in Gombe on October 31, 2014, Friday, at about 09:30, PremiumTimes report.
According to residents and witnesses, the scene of the tragedy is popular and crowded Gombe Line Transport Services Limited.
Various sources put the number of dead may rise to 30 people, as the figures from various sources remain conflicting and contradictory.
Currently, a hospital source quoted by NAN confirmed the death of 23 people, women and school children were among them. At least 34 persons have sustained various degrees of injuries.
The locals feared that a repeated blast is possible.
A resident of the area, who introduced himself as Abdulrahman Suae, said confirmed that many people were being transported to the Gombe General Hospital. However, the condition of these persons could not be verified.
The police and security services have reportedly cordoned the area off. Emergency officials are doing the best to continue evacuation of the victims to nearby hospitals.
Gombe's police chief Abdullahi Kudu confirmed the arrest of the three suspects behind the bloody attack. The official reaction of the Nigeria Police Force is awaited.
Meanwhile, a senior State Security Service (SSS) official has confirmed the development to TheCable:
“They (unknown suspects) left the bomb inside one of the vehicles at the park,” he said.
At the same time, a witnesses told a reporter of Vanguard that three suspects concealed explosive devices in bags and left them among the buses.
“Before they could get out of the park the bomb had gone off and some people around the gate of the park noticed them and ran after them,” Mr. Suae said.
He said although police made some arrests, he could not categorically say if those arrested were the real suspects or not.
Audu Awwal, a Gombe line bus driver who narrowly escaped the blast, said he only just left the park to see a friend off at the gate when he heard the explosion.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard the explosion, because I was just seeing a friend off when I had the explosion.”
The closer look at the scene of the blast, as seen by an eyewitness, is given below:
It would be noted that Gombe State has been subject to terrorists attacks for several times in the last months.
On June 5 a suspected suicide bomber attacked a Police Armored Personnel Carrier stationed outside a private residence of Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo. The incident claimed a total of five lives.
Three days later a female suicide bomber and a soldier died in the blast near Military Quarter Guard, Gombe State.
On July 8 professional actions of the police helped to avert a devastating bomb explosion at one of the secondary schools in Gombe State.
The Islamist Boko Haram sect may be behind all of the mentioned attacks.
Source: Legit.ng
