‘I thought I was dead,’ survivors recount near-death experience as explosion rocks Ibadan

Survivors of the explosion that occurred at Dejo Oyelese Street, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State on Tuesday claimed that dynamite used by miners triggered the explosion which led to loss of lives and property in the community.

One of the survivors identified only as Alhaji Mohammed said, “When the spark started, it was from the electricals and I brought out my fire extinguisher trying to help. My neighbour told me that it had passed an extinguisher and we needed to call the fire service. I told my son to bring my phone for me to call the fire service before the fire touched dynamite brought home by some miners in the building.

“The explosion threw me away and I thought I was dead. My children and wife are currently at the hospital receiving treatment.”

Another survivor who identified himself as Olaide, noted that they were called out to help douse a fire when the dynamite exploded.

He said, “We didn’t know that they brought anything home. We were only trying to help when we fell. I didn’t know when I woke up. I just found myself lying on the floor. It was scary.”

Lives, property lost

Our correspondent who was at the scene of the explosion saw no fewer than 20 victims being rescued while some were dead.

However, the total number of casualties remained unknown as of reason time.

Not less than 20 houses were affected in the explosion and at least 10 houses were completely damaged.

Our correspondent counted at least 15 vehicles that were completely damaged and more than five cars partly destroyed.

Search and rescue operations ongoing

As of press time, a rescue operation was still ongoing at the site of the explosion.

Rescue workers believed that some persons were still trapped under the rubble and efforts were ongoing to rescue them.

Officials of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team are investigating to confirm the type of explosive that triggered the explosion.

Oyo gov, police react

The deputy governor of Oyo State, Bayo Lawal, arrived at the scene of the explosion around 11pm on Tuesday and called for calm.

He said, “We have to be calm. Let us allow the experts to do their job and we should please move away from the site because we don’t know if there can be another secondary explosion.”

The state government had earlier called for calm in a statement released by the Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade.

The statement partly read, “Residents of Ibadan and immediate environ experienced an uncommon explosion about 8pm this evening.

“There are various interpretations of the incident but we need to state categorically that the state government has taken over and is in full control of the unfortunate occurrence to mitigate the incident.

“All security service chiefs including paramilitary chiefs and fire operatives have been deployed by the governor to rein in the spillover from the explosion.

“His Excellency,  Governor Seyi Makinde, therefore implores citizens to calm down and be rest assured that their interests are being looked after.”

The state Police PRO, Adewale Osifeso, told our correspondent that the police command is working with other agencies to get the exact number of casualties from the incident.

He said, “This doesn’t involve the police alone, we are working with emergency services and other agencies. Immediately there’s an update, we are going to brief you.”