Seventy-two persons died while 164 were injured in the bomb blast at the Nyanya Motor Park, about 16 kilometres from Abuja, on Monday, Nigeria’s Ministry of Health has said.
After collecting data from the scene of the bomb blast and at various hospitals within the Federal Capital Territory, where the victims were taken, the Ministry said the total number of victims stood at 236, out of which 72 are dead.
The ministry’s official statement says 71 of these were brought in dead from the site while one severely injured person subsequently died at the National Hospital, Abuja.
The Minister of Health, Professor Chukwu, who had, after the blast, told reporters that the ministry would release the official number of casualties, emphasised that the figures were provisional and do not include victims whose bodies were totally dismembered.
“Thirteen hospitals and clinics are handling the patients within the Federal Capital Territory,” the statement read.
Professor Chukwu commended all emergency agencies for their prompt response to rescue victims of the bomb blasts and Nigerians who had donated blood to the patients.
No terrorist group has claimed responsibility of the blast.
The Boko Haram sect is known to have carried out similar attacks in the north eastern part of Nigeria and they are suspected to be responsible for the attack.
President Goodluck Jonathan had described the blast as unnecessary distraction that is pushing the country backward.
During his visit to the scene of the explosion, he assured Nigerians that the issue of Boko Haram was temporary and that the country would surely get over it.
