Lagos residents were on Sunday morning rattled by the booming of explosions which reverberated across major parts of the mega city.
The explosion hit Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos early Sunday, killing at least 15 people and sparking search-and- rescue efforts to save people still trapped in collapsed buildings, emergency officials said.
The explosion in the Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos was heard several kilometers (miles) away. It destroyed more than 50 buildings, which either collapsed or caught fire, in three different neighborhoods, according to Ibrahim Farinloye, the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency.
Fires were spreading to nearby oil pipelines, so there were fears of more damage or explosions. The death toll was expected to rise because residents said some people remained trapped in collapsed buildings.
“Fifteen bodies have been recovered, including a whole family of four who were heading to church before they were cut short in the explosion,” Farinloye said.
At least two people have also been rescued alive, he said. One building is a school where injured children have been pulled from the rubble, some covered in blood.
Nigerian officials were not yet able to identify the cause of the massive explosion. A naval base is located nearby.
Linda Uche, a resident, told The Associated Press the sound of the explosion and the extent of the damage was far more serious than a usual oil pipeline explosion, which happens not infrequently.
According to reports, the entire place is currently on a lockdown as firefighters and emergency workers move around the site of the explosion to contain the disaster.
Vanguard reports that the headquarters of the Lagos Province 3 of the Redeemed Church of God (RCCG) located on 24 Road, Festac Town, Lagos, is among over 70 buildings affected by a pipeline explosion that occurred in the area on Sunday morning.
The explosion which occurred more than a kilometre away from the church premises, shattered its glass windows, injuring worshippers.
According to the newspaper, a parish of the First Baptist Church near the RCCG parish also lost a part of its roof to the explosion. The roof of a parish of the Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) located at 7th Avenue, Festac Town, was also blown off by the explosion which equally shattered the roof of the Ark Parish of the RCCG at 1st Avenue, many kilometers away from the explosion scene.
The Bethel Secondary School, a boarding school owned by the Catholic Church in Abule Ado, was brought down by the explosion, with many of its students injured and some feared dead. Many other buildings very far from the explosion scene in Abule Ado, Festac Extension in Amuwo Odofin LGA, were also brought down while many others shook during the explosion that threw thousands of residents in panic and confusion.
The Odic Plaza, a motor parts mall and warehouse, Bush Bar Hotel, Green Horse Plaza which houses tyres, Arch Angel Catholic Church, Chino Plaza with many goods in it, and a mechanic village, all located inside the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, were all hit by the explosion. The cause of the explosion has yet to be ascertained according to the National Emergency Management Agency, which is yet to confirm the death toll.
A witness, Mrs Patience Erebogaya, told NAN that she was preparing to go to work in a nearby hotel when the Bethel School was scattered by the explosion and injured her.
The victim said that mass celebration was going on in the catholic school when the explosion reduced the school to rubbles, trapping many students. The state Commandant of the Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr F. A. Adeyinka, told NAN that security personnel and other emergency responders were working hard to bring the situation under control.
The Chairman of Amuwo Odofin LGA, Mr Valetine Buriamoh, who was at the scene, ruled out pipeline vandalism as the cause of the explosion. He said that the magnitude of the damage was beyond pipeline vandalism. He appealed to the residents to give access to security operatives and emergency responders to do their jobs.
