A survivor of the explosion that occurred at Dejo Oyelese Street, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State on Tuesday night, who simply identified himself as Adeleke, said he lost his elder brother to the incident.
The survivor, who spoke with a local broadcasting station, Lagelu FM, said he and his brother were at a hotel in the area playing tennis before his brother sought to go out to attend to something.
He recalled a shrapnel had flown from the explosion and that it gave his brother a deep cut in the stomach.
“He came out to the front of the transformer where the incident happened. His intestines were out after the cut,” Adeleke said.
He identified his late brother as Oladipupo, noting that he was rushed to the Adeoyo General Hospital immediately after the incident.
Another survivor, Mrs. Olaitan Okanlawon, said the incident happened around 7 pm after some “strange sounds and vibrations.”
“I was inside with my husband and kids. And we started hearing strange sounds and vibrations, it was not clear until we began to see rubbles outside the window.
“One of my kids sustained a cut on his head and is being attended to. We have moved out our stuff to the hotel,” she added.
Reacting to the incident, the state governor, Seyi Makinde, said preliminary investigations by security agencies revealed that explosive devices stored by illegal miners caused the explosion that rocked the area.
No fewer than 10 persons were feared killed, and 15 others hospitalised following the explosion that also affected a section of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Oyo State House of Assembly, the residence of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, some buildings at Ologuneru, Apete, New Garage, Bashorun, Akobo, Sango and Eleyele.
