An early hour mysterious fire,
yesterday, claimed the lives of a man, his wife
and four-year-old daughter along the ever busy
Katsina-Ala Street, in Makurdi, the Benue State
capital. Vanguard gathered from an eyewitness that
the victims, Terhemba Makaar, a senior official
of the National Union of Road Transport
Workers, NURTW, and his two family members
were roasted in the inferno before help could
reach them. According to the witness, Mrs. Terwase Ormye,
who is a neighbour to the victims, “the fire
started at about 2 am. We were suddenly
woken by shouts of ‘fire’ from the house. “We heard someone screaming ‘help me! help
me! The flame and smoke were too much and
the house had only one door with burglary
proof so it became very difficult for anyone to
go in and rescue them. “While some of us were busy pouring water on
the building to put out the fire, the few hands
available struggled to break a portion of the
house when the inferno was still raging. “Unfortunately, when youths in the area
succeeded in breaking into the house, Mrs.
Makaar and her four-year-old daughter had
already been burnt beyond recognition while
their father who though suffered little burns
had already been choked to death. “Their only son, nine-year-old Aondugu Makaar,
was rescued and immediately rushed to Saint
Theresa Hospital, Makurdi where he is currently
receiving treatment and in stable condition.” Cause of the fire On the cause of the fire, the witness said: “It
could be as a result of power surge because it
was barely 30 minutes after the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria, PHCN, restored electricity
to the area when the fire started.” She lamented that the victims would have been
rescued if officials of the state fire service had
arrived the scene on time. She said: “We tried to reach them only to
discover that they had another incident to take
care of in the north bank area of the town.
Before they arrived the scene, the entire house
had been engulfed by inferno.” Contacted, the Benue State Police Public
Relations Officer, PPRO, Deputy
Superintendent Daniel Ezeala, said the police
had commenced investigation into the incident.
yesterday, claimed the lives of a man, his wife
and four-year-old daughter along the ever busy
Katsina-Ala Street, in Makurdi, the Benue State
capital. Vanguard gathered from an eyewitness that
the victims, Terhemba Makaar, a senior official
of the National Union of Road Transport
Workers, NURTW, and his two family members
were roasted in the inferno before help could
reach them. According to the witness, Mrs. Terwase Ormye,
who is a neighbour to the victims, “the fire
started at about 2 am. We were suddenly
woken by shouts of ‘fire’ from the house. “We heard someone screaming ‘help me! help
me! The flame and smoke were too much and
the house had only one door with burglary
proof so it became very difficult for anyone to
go in and rescue them. “While some of us were busy pouring water on
the building to put out the fire, the few hands
available struggled to break a portion of the
house when the inferno was still raging. “Unfortunately, when youths in the area
succeeded in breaking into the house, Mrs.
Makaar and her four-year-old daughter had
already been burnt beyond recognition while
their father who though suffered little burns
had already been choked to death. “Their only son, nine-year-old Aondugu Makaar,
was rescued and immediately rushed to Saint
Theresa Hospital, Makurdi where he is currently
receiving treatment and in stable condition.” Cause of the fire On the cause of the fire, the witness said: “It
could be as a result of power surge because it
was barely 30 minutes after the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria, PHCN, restored electricity
to the area when the fire started.” She lamented that the victims would have been
rescued if officials of the state fire service had
arrived the scene on time. She said: “We tried to reach them only to
discover that they had another incident to take
care of in the north bank area of the town.
Before they arrived the scene, the entire house
had been engulfed by inferno.” Contacted, the Benue State Police Public
Relations Officer, PPRO, Deputy
Superintendent Daniel Ezeala, said the police
had commenced investigation into the incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment