Maiduguri Blasts: 117 of 54? Police, residents, hospital sources differ on casualty figure
Government officials and Maiduguri residents cannot seem to agree on the number of people killed by Boko Haram terrorists who launched series of bomb attacks on the Borno State capital, Sunday.
Boko Haram terrorists have killed at least 1000 people since Muhammadu Buhari, who reportedly vowed to crush the terrorists in three months, became president on May 29.
Reports say Sunday’s attacks were the deadliest since May.
Borno police said 54 people died and 90 were injured in the bombings, which hit worshippers at a mosque, football fans watching a televised match and bystanders, AFP reports.
Maiduguri residents, however, claim the authorities are lying about the figures in order not to make Buhari look bad.
Hospital sources say no less than 117 were killed in Sunday’s attacks.
A total of 72 dead were registered at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, while another 45 were taken to the mortuary at the Borno State Specialist Hospital, three medical staff said.
Some locals said at least 85 died and that some people had taken loved ones killed in the blasts directly for burial rather than to hospitals.
“Sixty-nine dead bodies were brought here and three other people died while receiving treatment,” an orthopaedic doctor at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital said on Tuesday.
“I am afraid that there are some victims with grievous injuries who may likely require referral to other specialised hospitals.”
A mortuary worker at the hospital confirmed the tally.
“Some bereaved families have come and claimed the bodies of their loved ones but we still have many here,” he said.
At the city’s State Specialist Hospital, a senior nursing officer said 45 bodies were brought to the mortuary.
“Most of the bodies were unrecognisable because of the burns the victims sustained,” he said.
“Most of the 43 people that died in the mosque were brought here.”
More than 70 others who were injured were also brought for treatment, he added.
