3 more bodies recovered at Lagos explosion site, toddler rescued alive

Three more bodies were on Monday recovered, while a toddler was rescued from the rumbles of collapsed buildings affected by the gas explosion at the Ado – Soba area of Abule –Ado in Lagos. 

The deceased persons who are said to be staff of Bethlehem Girls College, a Catholic mission school were trapped in the remains of the collapsed staff quarters of the school. 

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The toddler, who was simply identified as Favour, was found naked in the debris by officials of the Nigerian Red Cross. 

According to the Assistant Bursar of Bethlehem Girls College, Udeze Lilianzita, who confirmed the bodies to be those of her colleagues, the Sunday explosion was not a gas related explosion, but a bomb blast. 

 “What I really want to say is that this is a bomb blast; it was something that was planted and that is why it escalated like this. It started across the road, where we were seeing smoke. The students were at mass, which was for 8:30a.m. 

 “I stay at the staff quarters, but had stepped out for church service.  One of my colleagues, who was in the staff quarters sleeping lost her life. Right now, the admin block is down, the classroom blocks are down. I can tell that three of my colleagues lost their lives. The cook died, her name is Irene, Oufre Idemudia, a very good friend also died.

“No student died because security men were quick to move them over the fence. They just sustained injuries and some of their parents came to take them home. The principal who died was trying to save the children, when a pillar fell on her.

“Generally speaking, our security system is down. People are now looting the area; the security agencies should look into the situation. Lagos is a mega city and things like this should not be heard. This is obviously, not a pipeline explosion,” Lilianzita narrated.

Speaking on the rescued girl, Chairman of the Nigerian Red Cross, Lagos state branch, Adebola Kolawole, said the mother of the girl and her brother were injured in the explosion and were receiving treatment at different hospitals. 

Kolawole, who spoke to journalists at the explosion site said: “The girl was recovered at the heat of the confusion. The mother was injured in the head and the brother was also injured. The two were taken to two different hospitals. As at close of work for the Red Cross yesterday at10 pm, nobody came for her.

“We had to start going from hospital to hospital to look for her mother. Eventually, we saw a woman at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Satellite Town, who we assumed was her mother, but she was in a semi -unconscious mode.

“But, this morning she was asking the doctors of her daughter and when we were contacted, we confirmed she was with us. She will soon be reunited with her mother.” 

Giving and update on the school girls, the Director of Education for the Catholic Arch Diocese of Lagos, Monsignor Jerome Oduntan, said the 268 students of the school are safe and alive. 

While stating that 50 of the students had sustained injuries because of the stampede, Oduntan said: “We took the 50 injured girls to the hospital and they were treated and discharged and all the students are at home with their parents. But, we still have two students that are undergoing treatment at the naval hospital and one at LASUTH.

“So, three students are undergoing treatment at the moment. Not even a single student died and no student is missing. However, I am still gathering information on the number of staffs that are yet to be accounted for. So, I won’t be able to tell you how many we are looking for.

“We have about 80 staff including teaching and non -teaching staffs. I can only confirm two staffs that died yesterday; the administrator that is the principal and a female security officer. Those are the ones I can confirm for now.”

It was reliably gathered that a 50-year-old security man, Ali-Kani-Baba and a cook at the school, simply identified as Kolawole are still missing. 

Brother to the security man, Haruna-Kani -Baba, was at the explosion site to search for his brother. 

 “My brother has been working with the school for over 20 years. When the incident happened and we heard, we started calling him, but he was not responding. We came over and we searched for him till late last night. 

“We went to the naval hospital and general hospital this morning, but we still could not find him there and it was then that we returned here to know if we can find him in the rubbles. A lot of people are still trapped under the rumble. The rescue officials should try to recover their bodies, if they are dead or alive,” Haruna said.

The mother of Kolawole, who is still confused about the incident, said her phone is still ringing and she is neither at the hospital, or part of the fatalities