By Sunny A. Ijomah
A 12-bedroom bungalow has been razed by fire at number 36 New Market Road Onitsha following a kerosene explosion.
The occupants of the bungalow lost property worth millions of naira and documents to the fire incident.
The explosion according to an eye witness happened when an elderly occupant of the building bought kerosene and ignited light as he was about to cook.
Narrating his ordeal, one of the occupants Mr. Chukwudi Nwankwo said he lost close to N6million worth of property and documents including the certificates and NYSC discharge papers of three of his children.
Mr. Nwankwo who was obviously shaken wondered what he would do after the family lost all their belongings to the inferno.
Another occupant of the building, Mr. Obinna Ikah, thanked youths of the area who assisted in putting off the fire which he said could have affected other buildings if they had not acted on time.
Mr. Kingsley Okafor implored government to look into what some filling stations sell to unsuspecting members of the public in the name of kerosene.
Only an eighty-three year old woman and a five hundred watt stabilizer were saved from the building.
Meanwhile, a section of Federal Polytechnic Oko main campus has been gutted by fire.
The fire which started in the early hours of Wednesday gutted parts of the school Admission Office and it was also rumored that a section of the school exams and record building was also affected, which could not be authoritatively confirmed by our correspondent as the students, lecturers and others were barred from entering the school premises by security operatives including the Nigerian Police and school Anti-Cult personnel.
The cause of the inferno could not be ascertained as at time of filing the report.
The inferno disrupted the night class of students who were preparing for their exams.
Some students struggled to put the fire out with little success as it raged fiercely and a bus parked around Mass Communication building of the school was also affected.
Some students who spoke to our correspondent attributed the fire to arson.
Some lecturers whom our correspondent reached said they could not authoritatively speak on the matter while the school PRO could not be reached and no official statement on the matter has been released by the school authority as most students expressed fear on weather their exams will continue.
However no life was lost in the inferno apart from those who sustained minor injuries while running for safety when the fire began but documents were destroyed in the affected office block.
