Eyewitnesses and residents of the Dejo Oyelese Close in Bodija have recounted how the Tuesday explosions damaged their homes and claimed many lives.

Although they could not provide the exact number of casualties, two residents of the area told FIJ that first responders and emergency vehicles evacuated more than five dead bodies after the explosion.

They also revealed that there were more people buried under the rubble.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: ‘Serious Casualties’ Recorded As Explosion Rocks Ibadan

Seyi Makinde, the Oyo State Governor, had put out a statement that attributed the explosion to illegal miners on Tuesday night. The governor also stated that about 77 people were injured and two were dead at the time of the statement.

“We were part of the people that first entered the place yesterday. The explosion shot one car outside into this river. Nobody even knows how many cars the explosion affected,” an eyewitness whose name is withheld for safety told FIJ.

“The close is usually locked, so we had to break in after the explosion and rescue as many as we could. Whatever exploded was underground. It exploded and threw everything on top. If you see the hole left after the explosion, it’s a very big hole.

“You see, now they changed the news and said two people died. Which one is two people? It’s a lie. See, my brother, you can even ask him how many people died yesterday. Some don’t have legs and don’t have hands.

“See my hand, because of the rescue. People were crying for help. When I saw the fire, I just heard a loud bang. For about a minute, we could not see anything.

“I removed my shirt like this; things were just flying here and there. We started hearing people’s cry for help about 30 minutes later.”

In a separate account, a man who had helped evacuate some of the victims after the explosion described the extent of the damage.

“The incident was a major one. I had not experienced that scale before in Ibadan. Yesterday, we had to use makeshift response centres, and there were many casualties,” he said.

“You know, clinics not too far from Water Corporation just kept admitting people for emergency treatment. It was a terrible experience.”

The nature of the explosion was unanimously described in both stories. Sources claimed they saw the site of the explosion firsthand some minutes after it happened. According to them, whatever caused the explosion was buried underground.

“The thing exploded from the underground,” the second source said. There is a huge crater left in the middle of the close. If they allow you access, go there and check it for yourself.”

“They said it was dynamite. Some said the owner is a miner and was not around when it happened. I don’t know how true those are, but I saw the hole it left. It was a big hole.”

Another resident of the Adeyi Estate, who wanted to be addressed as Olapeju, narrated how she had heard the explosion and what her immediate perception of the situation was.

“When I first heard the bang, my heart shook. Everything in our sitting room came down. The hanging television, some parts of the ceiling, and some parts of the wall. For some time, visibility was low; we could not see one another,” Olapeju told FIJ.

“I thought it was lightning. Someone else said it was another house collapse. Was it rain? We thought. We thought a house had collapsed at the back of our own building. That building a distance away, all of the glasses were shattered. That was how heavy the explosion was.”

When FIJ arrived at the scene of the explosion, soldiers and police officers had sealed it off to people and journalists due to evacuation activities.