Medical personnel attached to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), are battling to save a four-year-old girl, identified as Faridat Shittu, and six other members of her family, who are in critical condition after a cooking gas explosion ravaged their residence.
Confirming the incident, the South West Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said that the gas explosion occurred on Sunday at 1, Odubanwo Street. Off Olaniyi Street, Gbinrinmi in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Lagos state.
According to NEMA’s reports, the girl and her family members are receiving treatment for burns at the teaching hospital.
Narrating what happened, the child’s grandmother, reportedly told NEMA team while lying in bed that she was frying meat when the oil suddenly caught fire and that her attempts to put it out were ineffective, causing the cooking gas to explode.
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The agency said the little girl was sleeping in the room when the incident happened on Sunday at about 2 pm but she was rescued successfully by some community members and other injured victims.
The explosion’s ferocity caused the 14-room building, which included shops, to burn down, leaving 11 families without a place to live.