Kerosene Explosion Kills 4 In Delta
Four children from the same parents have died of kerosene explosion in Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, South-South Nigeria.
Family sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that two others and their mother are in the intensive care unit of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City.
NAN learnt that the explosion occurred on Monday night, when the victims’ mother, identified simply as Edna, a petty trader, was lighting up the lantern in their home.
The sources told NAN that the explosion led to a fire, which burnt the four children to death, while the surviving victims were rescued by neighbours and rushed to the hospital.
Commenting on the incident, the National Coordinator of the Save Accidents Victims of Nigeria, Dr. Eddy Ehikhamenor, who received the victims in the hospital, described the incident as pathetic.
Ehikhamenor told NAN on telephone that they sustained more than 85 degrees of burns and blamed the incident on adulterated kerosene.
NAN reports that during scarcity of the product, adulterated kerosene often flood the market and many lives had been lost to kerosene in the past in the state.
Kerosene, which sells at N50 per litre at the filling stations, is now sold at N3,000 for four litres at the “black†market because of the scarcity.
Ehikhamenor advised consumers to be careful when buying kerosene, adding that they should test the product before refilling their lanterns.
He said that they could check the kerosene on the arms, check the colour and the odour before buying.
Comments