/ 13 February 2002

MASS BURIAL FOR LAGOS VICTIMS POSTPONED AGAIN

AUTHORITIES in Lagos said on Tuesday they have postponed, for the second time in a week, a mass burial for unclaimed bodies of those who died following last month’s arms depot inferno. The burial, originally fixed for last Thursday, was later shifted to Wednesday. It has been postponed once more, to Saturday. “Saturday is the final date that we can wait. We have only about 130 bodies yet unclaimed of the more than 700 bodies deposited in three mortuaries in Lagos,” Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu told a news conference. More than 1 000 people died in the blasts and ensuing human stampede on January 27, officials said. “We will give them a befitting burial. There will be monuments erected in their honour,” Tinubu stated. After a short memorial service, the burial will take place Saturday near the Oke-Afa canal where most of the victims drowned after fleeing there to avoid cascading ordnance and debris from the munitions depot. – AFP