Scores injured
It was a sad day in Gombe yesterday as no fewer than 30 persons were feared dead with several others injured fol­lowing a bomb blast at the state capital’s busiest mo­tor park.
Although the police could not confirm the casualty fig­ure as at press time, there are fears that the death toll could rise owing to the magnitude of the explosion which occurred at 10am in the ever busy Gombe line motor park.
The park located in the heart of the city serves thou­sands of passengers who daily travel to Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe as well as Billiri, Kaltungo and other towns in the Gombe.
A woman who was weep­ing profusely said she saw the corpse of someone that looked like her brother be­ing evacuated and taken away while she was looking for her sister.
“We were three that came to the park, I don’t know whether they are dead or alive. We were waiting to board a vehicle. I just went outside the park to get re­charge card when I heard the explosion,” she said as she wailed.
Saturday Sun learnt that some men drove a car into the park on the pretence of dropping off passengers and left the car inside the park.
The vehicle which make is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this re­port, exploded shortly after they left, killing many and destroying cars, shops and buildings nearby.
“More than 10 cars are still burning as I speak to you”, Ibrahim Yusuf a vendor near the area said. Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Gombe Operations office and the Nigerian Red Cross and other security agencies were seen evacuating casualties.
“This is one of the worst bomb blasts in the history of Gombe,” a resident who pleaded anonymity said.
“I was sitting here when I heard the blast. Many died. I removed five corpses im­mediately. One woman lost both legs and hands. It is terrible. Many dead bod­ies were removed after we rushed the first set of vic­tims to the hospital,” Yusuf Aliyu Kaltungo said.
He said the Federal Med­ical Centre and the state Specialist Hospital Gombe have become busy as ca­sualties were rushed there with families besieging the facilities to know the fate of their loved ones.
Another eyewitness who sells GSM accessories near the park said he was in his shop when he heard the ex­plosion. Pleading anonym­ity, he said: “Come and see corpses, blood and fear ev­erywhere. It was horrible. It was really sad”
Commissioner of Police, Gombe State, Kudu Mma Abdullahi who visited the scene disclosed that three persons have been arrested in connection with the inci­dent.
He said: “A vehicle con­veying the bombers came into the park with Impro­vised Explosives Devices (IEDs). The vehicle has Yobe number plate. This is surprising how it came to look for passengers in Gombe Line. Three sus­pects have been apprehend­ed as they fled from the car and we reasonably suspect that they are the persons that brought in the IEDs.”
On the number of the dead, the CP said they were still compiling the casualty figure as there was confu­sion everywhere amidst ef­forts to put out the raging fire. He said that, “It is a sad development. It is the same IEDs that was used in Azare, Bauchi last week. I assure the public that we are putting everything under control and people should remain calm.”
FROM PAUL ORUDE, BAUCHI

Bomb blast kills over 30 in Gombe