By CrossRiverWatch Admin
An 18 month-old baby, Delight has been killed by kerosene explosion which occurred last week Tuesday at Ikot Eka-Ndem in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The baby’s uncle is still in critical condition at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).
Baby Delight died before arriving UCTH after the uncle (unnamed) had tried to fill kerosene into the lamp that was already lit which then exploded on both.
“I was in my room when I heard my brother screaming from the sitting room. I knew something serious must have happened. When I came out, I saw my son struggling to put off the fire that was on him and my brother. I immediately pulled the wrapper that was on me and wrapped my little Delight with it while my brother managed to put off his own,” Baby Delight’s mother told The Guardian.
She said Baby Delight was playing in the sitting room around 5:00 PM when it happened and said the Kerosene had been used by the household for some time.
“We have been using that kerosene for some time now and that was almost the last of it so I don’t know why it happened that day,” she said.
A similar incident occurred two weeks ago at 4 Miles in Calabar Municipal where a house was razed to the ground.
The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Iyang Asibong when contacted, said: “This is not the first case of kerosene explosion we are having in the state. I have severally put up press releases to inform residents not to try to refuel their stoves or lanterns when the fire is still on because most of the cases we had in recent times were as a result of that.”