Relatives besiege hospital for remains of loved ones

Relatives of victims of Tuesday’s blast in Yola have besieged the Specialists Hospital, Yola, to claim the remains of their loved ones.

Many of the relatives who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said they thronged the mortuary after visiting the hospital emergency wards and could not locate their relatives.

"Since I did not see my brother who was selling sugar cane at the scene of the incident, I have no option but to come to the mortuary," said one of them, who simply gave his name as Adamu.

Another one, Habila Ibrahim, also said he checked the wards in the specialists hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, before visiting the mortuary to ascertain if his brother was among the dead.

The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Bala Sa'id, said the hospital had received 29 dead bodies from the scene of the incident.

"As at yesterday night we had 29 corpses in the mortuary.

"We also have 30 people on admission with various degrees of injury; I believe by now some of those injured are stable. We are now about to take our rounds and make some discharges," Sa'id said.

He said among the dead were six women and eight children.

Also speaking to NAN, the Public Relations Officer of Yola Federal Medical Centre, Malam Adamu Dodo, said 41 casualties were taken to the hospital, including four dead.

"One of the dead is a woman," Dodo said.

NAN reports that the blast occurred at 8 p.m. at a night market in front of the Tipper Garage,Yola.

The incident happened about a month after the blast at the Friday Mosque in Jambutu Area, also in Yola.