Over 200 casualties are being reported in a market explosion that took place earlier today in Jos. Insurgents are suspected to have triggered the explosion using two vans parked where there was heavy human traffic.
First vehicle to explode was a Peugeot J5 van, with the registration number XG 148 BLD, then the second blast was carried out with a Toyota van, with a Gombe state license plate number. Eyewitnesses are saying the second car, a Toyota Sienna van, had been abandoned since 6 AM Tuesday morning. The car exploded after a beeping sound was heard by curious local residents.
The second blast killed more people than the first one as many residents and traders, who had fled the scene over the first explosion, tried to join rescue agencies to save the injured and retrieve the bodies of the dead. Men of the fire service, who responded to distress calls to fight the resultant inferno, were said to have stayed far away from the market over fears that more bombs could have been planted in the market.
