30 People Dead, 105 Injured in Fresh Gombe Park Multiple Blasts

The Red Cross Society of Nigeria Wednesday confirmed 35 persons dead and 105 injured in the double bomb blasts which occurred in Gombe that night.

Fresh Bomb Blast Kills 2 Policemen In Potiskum

A bomb laden Volkswagen Golf intercepted by police on Sunday exploded and killed a police inspector, driver and injured others at the Divisional Police Station in Potiskum, Potiskum local government area in Yobe state.

Boko Haram: 10 Safety Measures During and After Bomb Attacks - TIEMS

The Chairman of the International Emergency Management Society TIEMS) Nigeria/West Africa Chapter, retired Air Vice Marshall Muhammed Audu-Bida has advocated proactive approaches and basic knowledge on security and safety consciousness against bomb explosion.

His recommendations include:

While attack is on:

1. Be calm. You are the only one who can help yourself.
2. Lay flat. Most explosives used by suicide bombers are designed to burst in a flower bouquet pattern to throw the shrapnel horizontally between two and six feet above the ground. This pattern increases the chances of hitting the human torso and head by a shrapnel. Therefore, the best place to be in an event of an explosion is to lay flat on the ground.
3. Keep your mouth open and breathe in small intervals. The most lethal aspect in an explosion is not shrapnel or heat, it is the blast overpressure. The blast wave travels at supersonic velocity and severely affects the air-filled organs like lungs, kidneys, and bowels. We naturally tend to take a deep breath and hold it in emergencies. However, this proves lethal in a bombing situation, since our lungs become like a pressurised balloon to be ruptured by the blast wave. The majority of victims in a typical suicide bombing die from internal bleeding in the lungs. Only 6% on average die from shrapnel wounds. Your chances of injury with empty lungs are far smaller compared to holding your breath.
4. If things are falling around you, crawl under a sturdy table or a solid object, and remain there for at least one minute.
5. Be as far as possible from glass or fixtures, like windows, mirrors, cabinets, and electrical equipments.
6. Adhere to instructions from security and responders personnel. If an evacuation is ordered, leave the building as soon as you can.
7. Remember to assist the disabled around.
8. Do not move seriously injured persons unless they are in obvious, immediate danger, such as a building collapse or fire.
9. Once out, keep as far away from the building as possible.
10. Reduce your lateral profile – while laying on the ground, try to lay on one side and use your arms to protect the exposed eye.

Under the debris:

1. Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
2. Tap over and over on a pipe or wall so that rescuers can hear where you are.
3. Preserve your energy. Shout only if there is no other choice. You inhale enormous amount of dust when yelling.
4. Stay calm and think of things that relax you and make you happy.
5. Avoid unnecessary movement so you don’t kick up dust.
6. If possible, use a whistle to signal rescuers.

After the attack:

1. One event can be followed by another, so do not rush towards the blast scene.
2. Duck and cover.
3. Leave the building as quickly as possible. Do not stop to retrieve personal possessions or make phone calls.
4. Open doors carefully; watch for falling objects.
5. Avoid using telephones, mobile phones and hand radios. Electrical sparks or signals could trigger other bombs.
6. Move away from side-walks or streets to be used by emergency officials or others still exiting the building.
7. If you or others have life-threatening injuries, such as severe bleeding, difficulty breathing, chest pain or burns, provide or seek first aid and get help from officials or others at the scene.
8. If you or someone else has minor injuries, seek first aid as a first step until those more severely injured can be cared for first. If possible, go to a hospital that is not in the immediate area of the blast. Hospitals closest to the blast(s) will quickly become crowded.
9. Listen to emergency officials at the scene. If no one is near you to give instructions and you are in the immediate area of the blast(s), leave as soon as you can.
10. To keep safe, move away from the area. Avoid crowds, unattended cars and trucks, public transportation, and damaged buildings.

Courtesy:
Daily Post

Deadly Bomb Blast Hits Banex Plaza, Wuse II, Abuja, 21 People Feared Dead

A bomb attack on a busy shopping district in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, has killed at least 21 people and injured 52 more.

The blast, near the popular Banex plaza shopping complex in Wuse district, could be heard from miles away and sent plumes of smoke into the air.

Government spokesman Mike Omeri confirmed the blast was the result of a bomb.

No claims of responsibility have been reported.

Islamist militant group Boko Haram has bombed targets across northern Nigeria in recent years.

Plumes of smoke could be seen miles away from the site of the blast.

Windows in nearby buildings were shattered by the strength of the explosion

At the scene: Mustapha Mohammed, BBC Hausa Service, Abuja

I counted 12 bodies of men and women at the mortuary at the Maimata District Hospital, which is a few kilometres from the site of the blast.

Doctors and nurses were treating dozens of wounded - many of them for burns on their faces, hands and legs. The security forces were trying to keep order as relatives and friends rushed to the hospital to find out about the fate of their loved ones.

I saw one little boy, with bloodstains on his forehead. He was sobbing and looking for his mother.

A stranger brought him to the hospital after finding him, alone and disoriented, near the blast site. He got separated from his mother when the explosion ripped through the area. The boy did not know whether she was alive or dead, but the man looking after him feared the worst.

'Covered in blood'

Chiamaka Oham, who was near the site of the blast, told the BBC: "We heard a really loud noise and the building shook, and people started screaming and running out.

"We saw the smoke and people covered in blood. It was just chaos."

The area was packed with shoppers at the time of the blast, the BBC's Hausa service editor Mansur Liman reports.

Many cars outside the shopping complex were burnt out and many windows were shattered, he adds.

One man told the BBC his driver was killed in the blast: "I was in the complex when I saw that the ground was shaking. I saw my driver dead and a lot of casualties."

The blast hit a busy shopping district at 16:00 local time (15:00 GMT)

Many of the injured were taken to Maitama General Hospital

Boko Haram has staged previous attacks in Abuja, but most of its targets have been in the north-east of the country.

BBC