by crossriverwatch admin
Yesterday at about 18:49 GMT a 9 bedroom mud apartment at No. 6 Ekeng Abia Street Calabar South was engulfed by inferno.
Residents around the house raised the alert about the fire which began in a room where the occupants were said to be in church and spread sporadically into other apartments.
The landlord of the house who is a police officer Mr. Eyo Ekpo was at work when a neighbor Ogbedu Sunday called him and informed him of the incident at 19: 01 GMT after some of his properties and other neighbors were rescued.
A CrossRiverWatch reporter who was on ground at the scene of the fire placed a call to the Director General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA Mr. Vincent Akwa at 19:09 GMT who said he was out of Calabar and pledged to inform the state fire service and send a staff to come and get the necessary analysis ‘ASAP’.
The state fire service men arrived the fire scene 8 minutes after CrossRiverWatch reporter placed the call to Mr. Akwa while and men of the Nigeria Police Force from Atakpa Division came at 19:21 GMT.
The SEMA staff sent by the DG who gave his name simply as Desmond said they will get the necessary details of the victims and by the next morning, today, ensure that the victims are properly rehabilitated.
Our reporter observed that virtually all the belongings of the 9 bedroom apartment occupants was consumed by the fire except for those that were rescued by patriotic neighbors.
The combined team of the fire service men, police and neighbors were able to put out the fire at 17:36 GMT as there was no water supply from the Cross River State Water Board Limited a night before the day of the incident.
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