Eight more people have been confirmed dead as hospitals in Kaduna metropolis battle to save lives of victims of Sunday bomb explosion, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Five of the victims on admission at St. Gerard Hospital were confirmed dead by the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Sunday Ali.
He said that three of the patients had also been referred to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, leaving only two at the hospital even as one of the remaining victims had a successful surgery Monday night.
Officials of Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital also confirmed that three of the eight victims on admission at the hospital had lost their lives.
The figure raised the death toll to 24 after the 16 confirmed killed on the day of the incident by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The Police, however, still claim that only 11 people were killed in the explosion.
Meanwhile, the victims are still waiting for the assistance promised them by the Acting Governor of the State, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, during his visit to hospitals where the victims are receiving treatment.
Relations of some of the victims urged the State Government to take over the payment of the medical bills of all those affected by the blast.
“Nobody has assisted us with anything since their admittance to the hospital,’’ one of the relations of the victim, Mai Unguwa Ali said.
?Ali, whose brother, Mansur Ali, a commercial motorcyclist, was a victim, said he paid for the drugs and other medical charges.
“I found it difficult to pay for the treatment due to the nature of the injury,’’ Ali said.
Another relation, Ubale Awwal, said his brother, Nura Leko, a student, sustained injuries on his leg and parts of the body during the incident.
“I need help for his treatment. I am not happy with government response to the victims’ treatment,’’ he said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Mr Rueben Buhari, assured that the government would refund the medical bills incurred by the victims.
He said that the government was still compiling the list of those affected and the hospitals they were admitted, for easy handling of the payments.