FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY COMMISSION ASSISTING THE SECURITY AGENT EVACUATING THE CORPSE
Residents speculated that the explosives were placed in a badly-mangled car.............Bomb Blast Rocks Area Near Church Death toll from Sunday morning’s bomb blast in Kaduna has hit 36, while 13 others are lying critically ill in various hospitals in the city.
These figures were confirmed to THISDAY by the Public Relations Officer of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mallam Abubaksr Zakari Adamu, who said that 20 people died on the spot while the others died in hospital.“These are the casualty figures I have right now,” Adamu said.
Some of the hospitals currently treating the injured include St. Gerald Catholic Hospital, Rakiya Memorial Hospital, Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital and 44 Army referral Hospital all in the state capital.The dastardly act took place at Junction Road by Sardauna Crescent in Kaduna township, at about 9.10am just as Christians were observing the Sunday Easter Day Service.
"I was in my house when I heard a loud explosion that shook my house, causing my ceiling to cave in," one local resident told AFP by phone.He ran to the site, which had been cordoned off, but he said he could see damage to the Assemblies of God Church and cars.Another report indicated that the explosion went off a few blocks near the Evangelical Church of West Africa, (ECWA) and that there were a number of casualties.
According to an eyewitness, who said he saw several severed bodies, said the bomb was planted in vehicle and looked like the car was headed for one of the churches in the area when the bomb suddenly detonated at a junction killing several persons including Okada riders and bystanders.Residents speculated that the explosives were placed in a badly-mangled car, seen outside the church, as a service was taking place. A hotel is also located in the area.Islamist group, Boko Haram carried out a series of attacks on churches and other locations on Christmas Day. The worst of those attacks occurred at a church outside the capital Abuja, where 44 people died.Last Friday both the US and UK issued travel alerts to their nationals in the country warning them to stay away from a number of states fearing the likelihood of an attack over the Easter holiday period.
In an effort to ward of such attacks, security had been beefed up in many states in the north with police even rolling out armoured personnel carriers in Kano, which was the scene of multiple bomb attack earlier in the year which left almost 190 people dead.
BOMB BLAST ON EASTER DAY KADUNA PHOTO BY IDRIS EGAJI
THE SCENE OF BOMB BLAST AT SARDAUNA CRESCENT BY JUNCTION KADUNA ON EASTER SUNDAY
A CAR AFFECTED BY THE BLAST
THE SCENE OF THE BOMB BLAST
ONE OF THE VICTIM BEEN TREATED AT ST GERALD HOSPITAL YUSUF TAOFIK IS ONE OF THE BOMB BLAST VICTIM, TAKING TREATMENT AT ST GERALD HOSPITAL
ONE OF THE VICTIM WAS TRANSFERED TO EMERGENCY WARD IN ST GERALD CATHOLIC
HOSPITAL AT THE SCENE OF THE BOMB BLAST