OMG... Twin babies burnt to death in Ogun petrol fire

Tragedy struck in Gaun community, in the
Magboro area of Ogun State, after two
children, Taiye and Kehinde Oluwasegun,
were burnt to death in an inferno that gutted
their parents bungalow on Tuesday.


Photo credit - Samson Folarin

PUNCH Metro reports that the incident
happened around 8pm while the family was
preparing to have dinner. The first born of the family, Iyanu, had
tripped over a jerrycan of fuel, which also
spilled some of its content in the parlour.

While the mother mopped the spillage, the
fuel was said to have flowed to a lantern in
the house,
which triggered an explosion.

Residents, who were alerted by calls for
help, reportedly rescued Iyanu; the second
child, Korede; and their parents. However, the twin children, aged three,
were burnt to death.

When Punch visited the area on Wednesday,
he observed that everything in the house
was burnt as smoke still billowed from
burnt property in the three bedroomed
bungalow.

Korede, six, who sustained burns in the leg,
told PUNCH Metro that his father, Aina, was
about taking their generator outside when
his sister fell.

He said, “My daddy has two generators. We
use the big one to pump water, while
the small one is for the house.
“My daddy had put the small one in
the room to pour petrol into it before
taking it to the cage that was outside. My mummy was preparing food in the
kitchen that time.
“My sister, who didn’t know there
was a jerrycan on the floor, tripped
over it. My mum then took the mop to
clean spilled petrol. She was doing that when the fire started. There were six
of us in the house: my dad and mum,
my sister, the twins and me."

Punch observed that there was no
motorable road in the community and the
area was connected to the rest of Magboro
by a stretch of rickety bamboo bridge. A motorcyclist in the area, who did not
identify himself, said the survivors were
helped by residents to cross the bridge.

He said, “It was a difficult task getting the survivors to the hospital. We had to
carry them on our backs with their
burns.
“The woman kept asking for her
twins, while the husband kept
lamenting that he lost everything to the fire.”

PUNCH Metro visited Perfect Joy Hospital
where three members of the family were
taken to for treatment. They observed that Aina, a carpenter,
suffered severe burns in his legs, hands,
face and chest, while his wife, Abosede, a
teacher, suffered burns in both legs. It was learnt that she had yet to be
informed that the twins were dead.

A relative of the victims, Pastor Moses
Igbinadolor, said Iyanu was in another
hospital, adding that she sustained serious
burns.
He lamented the lack of basic amenities in
the community, saying it made the rescue
difficult.

“We took Iyanu to another hospital
and the doctor said she sustained 68
degrees burns. What, however, made
the case worse was that we couldn't
get across to the fire service because
there is no motorable road. The nearest police station is at Ibafo. This
just shows that we don’t have a
listening government. No road, no
power, no water,” he said. Punch reports they learnt that the case was
not reported to the police.

The traditional ruler of Gaun community,
Sumonu Seidu, said a delegation from the
community had visited the victims in the
hospital. “I am aware the couple lost their twins
after a fire incident,” he said.