NIGERIA: Survivors of a rush hour blast in Nigeria recount ordeal from an Abuja hospital

Record ID: 236596

  • Title: NIGERIA: Survivors of a rush hour blast in Nigeria recount ordeal from an Abuja hospital
  • Date: 15th April 2014
  • Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (APRIL 15, 2014) (REUTERS) INJURED ON HOSPITAL BEDS VARIOUS OF DRIP BEING ADMINISTERED TO AN INJURED MAN VARIOUS OF HOSPITAL STAFF TREATING BLAST SURVIVOR, SAMSON ODO, ON HIS HOSPITAL BED DRIP (SOUNDBITE) (English) BLAST SURVIVOR, SAMSON ODO, SAYING: "The thing exploded, the fire was on me much I fell down so suddenly I get myself a bit and when the You know, when the. The breeze you know the thing used to be like the wind, a heavy wind after the fire so when that one was going on I get myself and I get up and I was running." VARIOUS OF INJURED WOMAN SITTING ON BED TRYING TO EAT A MEAL VARIOUS OF NURSE CLEANING WOUNDS OF A BLAST VICTIM, OGEKE CHARLES DESMOND (SOUNDBITE) (English) BLAST VICTIM, OGEKE CHARLES DESMOND, SAYING: "Yesterday, I was going to Wuse. In the process I have bought my ticket to enter El Rufai bus before the explosion happened yesterday. The experience I had yesterday was something that even I won't allow it to happen if I have the power even that thing that happened yesterday I thank God that I'm alive because the only thing my own case is a minor case to compare with other people's own because yesterday you can see dead body you can see so many things that happened yesterday, I was like 'Those people that are doing this thing are they human beings? Do they have humanity in them?'" VARIOUS OF INJURED MAN ON HOSPITAL BED INJURED TOES INJURED MAN VARIOUS OF FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY DIRECTOR GENERAL, ABBAS IDRISS, IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DIRECTOR GENERAL, ABBAS IDRISS, SAYING: "Yes, the bodies in the morgue, there are processes put in place. Those who are mutilated beyond recognition, the police are going to carry forensic tests and then identify the family before they are handed over but those ones that are really identifiable and then if the police are certain, there are process in which the hospitals are asked to really follow so that they can be able to release the corpses once they are convinced beyond reasonable doubt." VARIOUS OF RELATIVES GATHERED OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL WAITING FOR NEWS OF MISSING VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF HOSPITAL
  • Embargoed: 30th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA91YLO6PWKFK7E6U3MOHWXJ3ZU
  • Story Text: Survivors of the rush hour blast in Nigeria's capital described their ordeal on Tuesday (April 15) as they recovered in various hospitals in Abuja.
    At least 71 people were killed and 124 wounded in the incident, raising concerns about the spread of an Islamist insurgency after the deadliest ever attack on Abuja.
    The dozens injured in the blast were still being treated in hospitals on Tuesday. Survivor Samson Odo described the moment when the blast ripped through the bus station.

    "The thing exploded, the fire was on me much I fell down so suddenly I get myself a bit and when the You know, when the. The breeze you know the thing used to be like the wind, a heavy wind after the fire so when that one was going on I get myself and I get up and I was running," he said.
    The bus station, 8 km (5 miles) southwest of central Abuja, serves Nyanya, a poor, ethnically and religiously mixed satellite town where many residents work in the city.
    Survivor Ogeke Charles Desmond said he was lucky to be alive.

    "I thank God that I'm alive because the only thing my own case is a minor case to compare with other people's own because yesterday you can see dead body you can see so many things that happened yesterday, I was like 'Those people that are doing this thing are they human beings? Do they have humanity in them,'" he said.
    Anxious relatives were still waiting outside the hospital for news of loved ones that they have not been able to locate in hospitals.
    The director general of the Emergency Management Agency for the region, Abbas Idriss, called on relatives to be patient before being able to reclaim the bodies of loved ones.

    "There are processes put in place. Those who are mutilated beyond recognition, the police are going to carry forensic tests and then identify the family before they are handed over but those ones that are really identifiable and then if the police are certain, there are process in which the hospitals are asked to really follow so that they can be able to release the corpses once they are convinced beyond reasonable doubt," Idriss said.
    President Goodluck Jonathan pointed the finger of suspicion at Boko Haram, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Islamist militants who are active mainly in the northeast.
    The attack underscored the vulnerability of Nigeria's federal capital, built in the 1980s in the geographic centre of the country to replace coastal Lagos as the seat of government for what is now Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer.
    Boko Haram militants are increasingly targeting civilians they accuse of collaborating with the government or security forces. Amnesty International estimates the conflict has killed 1,500 people in the past year.
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