One person has died after a gas explosion that rocked SPA axis of Orokeonuoha, Abakaliki in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State has passed away.
DAILY SUN reports that Miss Mary Cynthia Ikelegu died on Saturday evening at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA) where she was being treated alongside nine other victims of the explosion who were also severely burnt during the disaster.
The explosion occurred in the kitchen section of Good Shepherd Catering School in the state.
The victims are all students of the catering school.
The incident allegedly occurred when one of the students was answering a phone call in the kitchen while cooking food with gas cylinder switched on. The explosion that occurred forced the students to scamper for safety.
In the process, ten of the students were severely burnt.
The victims were first taken to a police clinic at the police headquarters, Abakaliki for medical treatment from where they were referred to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, also in Abakaliki.
Mary Cynthia Ikelegu was among five of the victims who had been on life support at the hospital since Thursday morning when the incident occurred.
Among those affected by the disaster is 17-year-old Chisom Nwizi, daughter of a staff of Nigeria Television Authority, Abakaliki.
Nwizi told journalists who visited him at the hospital yesterday that he was hopeful his daughter would survive though she was severely burnt.
“I got a call around 6:30am that the kitchen section of Good Shepherd Catering School had been engulfed by fire and I rushed to the place immediately because my daughter is a student there.
“When I got there, I saw students discussing in groups. One of them said that it is the carelessness of one of the students, that if one of students didn’t enter the kitchen with her phone, the incident wouldn’t have happened.
“I moved into the school proper and I was told that the victims have been taken to the police clinic. I quickly rushed to police clinic and I was informed that they had been taken to the Accident and Emergency Unit of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA).
“My daughter sustained severe burns, but I hope that she will survive. The school authorities are doing well; they have been trying their best since the incident occurred. They have not asked any parent to bring a dime; they are still saying it is life first before they will engage the parents.
“I commend the effort of the Reverend Sisters managing the catering school. Yesterday, they stayed in the hospital till Midnight, I really appreciate their efforts,” he said.
