23 killed, 34 injured in Gombe bus terminal explosion
A Bus terminal popular called Gombe-line park in Gombe metropolis of Gombe State went up in flames in the early hours of Friday when a tripple explosion rocked the park.
The explosion left over 23 persons dead and many others critically injured.
It also left over twelve 18-Seater buses, some of which belonged to the State Government Transport Company called Gombe line, completely destroyed.
People putting out fire at the scene of bomb blast at the Gombe line motor park in Gombe on Friday
It was gathered that explosives were planted on a vehicle registered in Yobe State.
The Gombe State Police Commissioner, Abdullahi Kudu while on a first hand inspection of the scene told Journalists that the incident which occurred at about 10 am claimed the lives of nine persons.
Similarly, the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Manzo Ezekiel, told AFP that officials of the Agency confirmed five persons dead, fearing that the figure could still be higher even as he said that about 34 people were wounded in the attack.
On the steps already made by the police, Kudu said that three suspected persons were apprehended while trying to run away from the scene after parking a vehicle with Yobe State number plate, suspected to have conveyed the explosives.
He said: “For now, three suspects have been apprehended and we are reasonably suspecting they are the people who brought in the Improvised Explosive Device (IED). It is either the vehicle is parked laden. But we cannot determine that now until our EOD make their investigation”.
Sources from Gombe told Saturday Vanguard that the park had been cordoned off with a police tape while shops and offices around the area had been closed.
They said that the development has sent shivers down the spine of most residents of the town.
As at the time of filing this report, the State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo was yet to visit the scene.
It will be recalled that explosion also rocked the park sometimes last year.
Gombe shares a border with three northeastern states under emergency rule since May 2013 because of the Boko Haram uprising: Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
The police chief said he believed the suspected attackers had travelled together from Yobe, where the insurgents are thought to be in control of several towns and cities.
The militants have claimed credit for a series of bus station bombings this year, including two in April and May on the outskirts of the capital Abuja that killed nearly 100 people.
An October 23 attack at a bus station in Bauchi state, which also neighbours Gombe, killed five people, with many again blaming Boko Haram.
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