A gas explosion at a filling station, Natson
Petroleum Nigeria Limited in Lafia, Nasarawa State has been reported to have left
about 15 persons dead while over 50 other severely burnt and rushed to some
hospitals in Lafia on Monday.
The cause of the explosion, according a source
around the filling station, was due to leakage of gas from one of the reservoirs
which caught the attention of two motorists who, when attempting to run away from
eminent danger, collided and went into the flames.
Consequently, nine vehicles, including two fuel
tankers, eight motor cycles and three tricycles, were caught in the web of the
inferno and burnt down with the occupants.
Meanwhile, the casualty unit of the Dalhatu Araf
Specialist Hospital
(DASH) in Lafia was littered with burnt bodies of
victims of the gas explosion as medical personnel of the hospital battled to
save their lives.
This was even as sympathisers thronged to the
hospital premises to catch a glance of the horrific incident as victims of the
inferno were conveyed in by officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission FRSC).
When journalists spoke to one of the sympathisers,
Ibrahim
Mushasha, at the entrance of the casualty unit of
the DASH on his observation, he said so far over 50 burnt persons have been conveyed
into the unit for urgent medication to save their lives, even as others were
rushed to some private hospitals in the state capital.
He said: "They were brought in unconsciously naked
as their bodies were burnt as they struggle in the anguish.
"However, we are yet to ascertain the number
of those who died in the inferno as the dead bodies were still been counted.
"Some of the victims were caught up in the
inferno as they were plying the Lafia-Abuja road, especially students of the
Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia, who were on their way to school for
lectures, as well as other persons travelling on that road as at the time of
the gas explosion.”
A female medical worker attending to the victims at
the casualty unit of the hospital declined comment on the number of casualties
so far conveyed into the casualty unit for treatment, when our
correspondent sought to know the number.
She however said the immediate concern of officials
of the hospital personnel was to save life first.
Also, a security officer from the Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence
Corps (NSCDC) on duty at the casualty unit declined
comment that it was only personnel from the casualty unit that could talk to
the media on that explosion and its consequences.
No comments:
Post a Comment