The twin blasts that
rocked a market in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe on Thursday,left
several people dead, witnesses said.
The
first explosion took place outside a footwear shop around 1620 GMT, followed by
a second explosion just minutes later, said Badamasi Amin, a local trader who
counted at least three bodies.
He
said the area was crowded with customers doing some last-minute shopping on the
eve of the Eid festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
“I
was about 70 metres (yards) from the scene” when the first blast struck, he
told the French news agency.
“I
and many other people rushed to assist the victims. While we were trying to
attend to the wounded, another blast happened outside a china shop just
opposite the footwear shop.
“Several
people were killed and many more were injured,” he added.
Ali
Nasiru, another trader, said he saw “people lying lifeless on the ground”.
“Traders
and shoppers helped in evacuating the victims to the hospital,” he said. “I
can’t say how many people were affected but there are many.”
A Red Cross official confirmed that more than 30 people were killed
in the two blasts at a market in Gombe, Gombe state today.
Gombe’s
market and bus station have in recent months already been targeted by bomb and
suicide attacks.
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