…70 year old mourns offsprings
Six members of a family lost their lives during a fire outbreak in Ngbede community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old man, Pa Fidelis Ezinne, who survived the inferno said some of the victims were his children and grandchildren.
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While narrating the incident, Ezinne said he only heard the sound from a generator in one of the rooms in the house at about 6.30pm.
“I was sitting outside before my freezer blew. Then what we saw next was an explosion which got everybody wounded.
“This was about 6.30 to 7pm. About six people have died -my son, his wife and child, the daughter of my wife and one other person.
“If government want to help, let them come and help me,” he pleaded with an emotion-laden voice.
Another eyewitness simply identified as Eric, said the incident might have been caused by an electric fault where a refrigerator was connected to a stabilizer.
“I was outside the house just along the road when we heard people screaming ‘fire! fire!’
“Before we got there, everything had happened. We rushed those affected to the hospital, but they didn’t make it,” he stated.
Reacting to the incident, Commander of a Vigilante group called OSPAC in the area, Godknows Nkem, advised residents to be cautious when handling flammable materials.
“What happened is very regrettable at this festive period. The loss of six able men and women is unfortunate.
“I want to use this medium to advise all and sundry to be mindful of all flammable materials especially during this festive period.
“Life is one thing that all of us must guard well. This is the dry season, people should be mindful of what they use, what they keep in their houses, especially flammable materials to avoid disaster,” he stated.
In a related development, fire destroyed goods and property worth millions of Naira at the Etche Waterfront in Borokiri axis Of Port Harcourt on Christmas day.
Though the cause of the incident could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the fire occurred when residents were already celebrating Christmas.
Our correspondent reports that this is about the 10th fire been recorded in the state in the last three months.
Efforts to reach the state acting Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, proved abortive as she didn’t respond to the several calls put across to her mobile telephone.
Iringe-Koko had also yet to reply to a text message sent to her as of the time of filing this report.
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