BY TINA TODO
One died and seventeen others have been hospitalized at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital following cases of adulterated kerosene in Cross River State.
The decease, whose two children are still under intensive care was said to have given up the ghost on Tuesday morning at the teaching hospital.
This incidents occurred as several explosions were recorded in not less than ten homes causing panic in the state.
Most affected were residents in Calabar while one case was reported in Ugep Community of Yakuur local government area.
Narrating his ordeal, one of the victim, said, “As I was about to put kerosene in the lamp, all I heard was a loud sound and my cloth was in flame”.
An old woman in her fifties, Mrs. Theresa Okon, who was bunt while lighting a stove said, “I did not know what happened, all I know was that I was putting on the stove when it exploded to my face. I sent my grandson to buy kerosene that evening but I don’t know where he bought it from”.
Leading government delegates to visit victims of the burns at the teaching hospital, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, said the state government is working hard to get to the root of the matter.
Asibong said, “We just have to be careful about the type of kerosene we buy because we started receiving these type of report about two weeks ago but we realized that it was getting more serious so we decided to do something more drastic that was why we are here yesterday, sent by the Governor Senator Ben Ayade to find out the situation of things and we came and found out that it was even worse than we thought.
“Seventeen people already in Calabar alone have been affected Like I said, we had a call from Ugep yesterday with the same problem and now we have lost somebody here in the teaching hospital , a mother of two children to this and the children are still under intensive care unit . We want to get to the root cause of this problem that is why we have invited the commissioner for Petroleum and Gas Resources to investigate and find out where they bought the kerosene from”.
On his part, the Commissioner for Petrol and Gas Resources, Itaya Nyang, said, “We want to set up an investigative team panel to get to the root of the matter.
“ There are various ways of getting product that is adulterated , it could be the process of conveying it, the petroleum tanker conveying kerosene and possibly some handy work of some miscreants who want to miss it because when you look at the cause of difference, it is huge between PMS and kerosene.
“We want to find out who are responsible and where these products are bought. I intend to involve the services of security agencies in this operation because we intend to ensure that adequate punishment is given to those involved”.
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