SAD! Kerosene explosion kills teenager, injures two in Benin

An explosion suspected to have been caused by adulterated kerosene has killed a 15 year-old boy and injured two others at Ukpebo Street, off Textile Mill Road, Benin, Edo State.

The explosion, which occurred at about 2.30am yesterday, left a 31-year-old mother of three, Mrs. Loveth Ode, her two year-old son, Wisdom, and her relative, Alfred Omonefe, with varying degrees of burns.

Alfred, 15, however, died en route to the Central Hospital, Benin. Others were said to be receiving treatment at the hospital.

Loveth’s husband, Mr. Sunday Ode, 35, said that he was away at work when he got a call that his wife, son and nephew had been rushed to the accident and emergency ward of the hospital following the explosion.

He said that the incident occurred when his wife attempted to refill a lit lantern in the room with the kerosene which she bought from a roadside seller.

Sunday, a farmer who hails from Ughele North in Delta State, explained that although the fire caused by the explosion did not affect other rooms in the compound, it however, destroyed some of his valuable property.

He said, “I received a call this morning (Thursday) that my room on Ukpebo Street caught fire last night as my wife tried to refill the lantern.

“I was shocked and rushed to the hospital where they were taken to. But my sister’s son who was staying with me died on the way to the hospital.

“I am appealing to the government to assist me and my family because I don’t have anything now.”