Security forces deployed after the blast
AFP

Four people were killed and a dozen injured in a blast in the southeastern Nigerian state of Anambra, according to witnesses and an official. The blast occurred in the multi-million Onitsha Drug Market, also known as the Ogbo Oguwu.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, head of the civil society group Intersociety and a witness to the incident, said the blast took place in a section of the market which mainly deals with chemicals. As a result, the fire spread fast and engulfed a lot of small markets nearby.

Emeka Orji, the local government area chairman of South Onitsha, confirmed to Reuters that at least 12 people had been injured in the stampede that ensued as people rushed to leave the market. They added that immediately after the blast, there was chaos as people started running helter-skelter; which resulted in the stampede.

"There was stampede; nobody was thinking of how to save goods because it was an explosion," said Orji.

"I can vividly confirm to you — because I was there — the explosion killed one person instantly. The two others were badly affected by the explosion and were rushed to a hospital. And they are said to have died," he added.

Martin Agbili, director of Anambra State Fire Service, confirmed the fire incident, however, he declined to comment on the cause of the fire, saying that officials were still investigating. "The cause of the fire and extent of damages is yet to be ascertained, but my men are currently at the scene battling the fire," Vanguard quoted Agbili as saying. The website also reported that a building had been destroyed in the blast.

Anambra is one of the Nigerian states which has been plagued by bandits and militant-related violence in recent times, and this blast is the latest in a long line of blasts and other violence that has riddled the country in recent times.