KEROSENE EXPLOSION HARMS 71 YEAR OLD WOMAN AND GIRL IN ABAKALIKI

Reporter : AMECHI ODO

 A seventy year old woman and a twenty-one year old girl have suffered severe burns following separate incidents of explosion from suspected adulterated kerosene at their homes in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

The girl, Miss Chinenye Ezekwenna, who resides at 40 Jemeni Street and suffered burn on her legs, arm and jaw, explained that she purchased the suspected adulterated kerosene from a retail shop.

She narrated that the kerosene exploded when she poured it on smouldering firewood as she was cooking. The elderly woman, who resides at 3 Jemeni Street, Mrs. Elizabeth Igwe, said the kerosene exploded when she was refilling her hurricane lamp in the night.

According to Mrs. Igwe, the suspected adulterated kerosene was purchased by a little boy from a road side. When contacted, the Special Assistant to Ebonyi State Governor on Petroleum, Mr. Bassey Chima, promised to get back to Radio Nigeria but did not do so even as at the time of filing of this report.

Our Correspondent, who visited the victims at their homes, reports that Miss Ezekwanna was seen using ordinary water to clean the severe burn on her body while the seventy year old woman said she had been treated at a hospital and now being managed by a nurse at home.