Fire kills mother, daughter in Calabar

LAST weekend was a bleak one for a family at No.19, Andem Street, 8 Miles, Calabar, Cross River State as a seven- year-old girl and her mother,35, were burnt to death when their home went up in flames following an alleged exposure of naked flame while refueling a generating set.

One of the neighbours, Mr. Ime Ekpeowo, said that the woman’s in-law was reloading a generating set with a kerosene lantern beside the gallon of fuel when it burst into flames. She said the 25-year-old man ran with the remaining fuel into the house, spilling the content along, which caused the entire twin flats to be torched.

Mr. Ekpeowo, who is an occupant of one of the twin flats, said he was able to escape with his wife and children while his neigbour, Mr. Felix Okon, was not so fortunate as he lost the wife and a seven-year-old-daughter when the woman tried to safe her daughter from the inferno.

An eyewitness report said as the fire was raging and in the midst of the commotion, everyone was running helter-skelter to save their lives. He said the woman who was able to run outside suddenly remembered that her daughter was in the bedroom and rushed inside to rescue her when the roof of the house collapsed due to the intensity of the fire, killing both of them.

Frantic efforts of the state Fire Service men could not save the twin flats from being razed alongside property worth millions of naira.

Assessing the disaster, the Director General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Mr. Vincent Aquah described the incident as “pathetic” and consoled the family of the deceased.

Aquah, who later visited one of the survivors who was receiving treatment for a first-degree burn at a nearby clinic, advised the public to heed to the campaign against indiscriminate use of fire.

He said at all times refueling a generating set should be done with the generating set off and no naked light around for safety purposes.