Judex Okoro, Calabar
Tragedy struck in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, as four persons lost their lives in a kerosene explosion.
The incident, which occurred at Ikot Ekpo community in Calabar municipality on Monday night, claimed the life of one Esuabana Thomas Okon, 45, his two children – Okon Esua Thomas, 14, and Edet Esua Thomas, 12, and the in-law, Mathias.
It was gathered that Esuabana’s wife and his daughter survived the inferno.
It was learnt that the explosion occurred about 9.30pm following attempts by one of the children to turn kerosene into already lit lantern.
A witness, Mr Samuel Inyang, also a relation to the Esuabanas, said the kerosene exploded like a bomb and blew the door open, adding g that the inferno started form the kitchen, not the room.
Wondering why the victims didn’t escape, he alleged that the kerosene is the bunkering type and called on government to rise to the occasion and save the lives of Nigerians.
Speaking on the sad incident, another relation, Engineer Efiom Offiong Efanga, said he was not at home when the incident happened but his attention was drawn to it.
He said: “I had a call at about a minute to ten o’clock that there was a fire outbreak in my compound so I had to rush down here. By the time I got here, the neighbours had succeeded in putting out the fire but they did not know initially that people had actually been burnt inside because it seems there were no screams.
“It was after the fire was extinguished that we discovered three persons inside who were already dead. Another victim, who was also fatally burnt, was rushed to the hospital but he gave up the ghost on the way and so his dead body was brought back.”