48 more killed, scores injured in Borno

From TIMOTHY OLANREWAJU, Maiduguri

At least 48 people have been killed in a bomb blast at a local market in a remote Borno State community. Source said some explosive devices which were carefully concealed in a  usually crowded part of the Sabongari market, Damboa Local Government Area in the south, went off at about 1.35pm yesterday, killing at least 48 people.

Bomb Scene

A vigilance member in Damboa said more than 40 people were injured in the attack. He said the bomb was concealed inside the market, adding that the perpetrators allowed commercial activities to peak before detonating the bomb.

Some residents of Maiduguri who hailed from the area told Daily Sun that the community was thrown first into confusion and later, mourning as the casualty rose to 48 by yesterday evening.

“Almost all the families lost loved ones. The bomb attack was devastating. We learnt from our people that bodies littered the scene of the blast,” Dauda Yusuf, a Maiduguri resident told Daily Sun on phone.

He said residents of Sabongari were so shocked that they couldn’t pick the bodies from the scene in time. He said more than 40 people have, however, been taken to the hospital.

The bomb attack came two days after suspected Boko Haram insurgents ambushed a commercial Golf car in a village near Sabongari, killing four passengers.

48 more killed, scores injured in Borno