Two persons have been confirmed dead following a gas explosion that occurred along Nwaniba road, in Uyo local government area of Akwa Ibom State.
It was gathered that the tragic incident occurred two weeks ago, in the morning hours when one of the deceased used his handset light for illumination while striking the match to light his gas cylinder which unknowingly to him has a leakage.
According to sources close to the compound of the victims, the cylinder immediately exploded, killing the boy and one other person in his room.
According to the source, “The incident occurred on Wednesday, October 6 in the morning. Every where was still dark. One of the tenants, a 21-year-old stayed in a one-room apartment and wanted to cook in that early hours before going to work. He lit the gas cooker not knowing that it was leaking.
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”I was staying in my room. I heard a large explosion. By the time I rushed out to the room, there was a thick smoke all over the room. Fire was raging. No one could enter. We had to call the Fire Service and the staff rushed down and put off the inferno that could have razed the entire building.’’
However, the director of the Akwa Ibom state Fire Service, Ubong Umoh when contacted confirmed the incident saying, “the explosion was caused as a result of phone light
Umoh lamented that his organisation had, at several occasions, sensitised users of gas cylinders against using phone light when cooking but they have not actually complied.
He said, “Two persons were killed in the gas explosion and it happened because one of them was using phone light and this is what we in the fire department have been preaching against that people should not use phone light near the gas cooker.”
