Three persons lost
their lives in a fire outbreak in a lodge occupied by students of the
Federal Polytechnic in Gwallameji area of Yelwa in Bauchi metropolis.
An eyewitness said
the three persons who died in the fire incident, were a woman, her
five-month old grandson, and a seven-year old girl, believed to be a
baby sitter. The fire started, according to the eye witness from the
room of the deceased, when she was asleep with her grandson.
The eye witness
added that efforts by neighbours to rescue the victims were to no avail
and by the time fire-fighters arrived the scene of the incident, the
entire 15-room building occupied mostly by students of the Federal
Polytechnic, Bauchi had been razed down completely.
Generator explosion
The caretaker of
the affected house, Adegoke Adeyinka who explained that the fire
started as a result of an explosion from a generator set which was kept
inside the room of the deceased, added that the owner of the room is
one Doris Patrick, a HND II Student of Science Laboratory Technology
(SLT) department of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi.
He said Mrs
Patrick, who occupied room six, travelled to Kogi State to visit her
husband, and left her baby and a seven-year old girl with her mother.
He added that most occupants of the house were not at home at the time
of the fire.
A next door
neighbour, Esther Eluwa who narrated her experience, said she had
complained about the noise coming from the said generator. Ms Eluwa, an
HND I student of Office Technology Management department of the Federal
Polytechnic, Bauchi said: “I just came back from all-night (prayers) in
my church and I wanted to catch some sleep, but the noise was not
allowing me to do so and I complained. After some time, the person
repairing the generator packed it inside the room.” Damilola Ehindero,
roommate to Ms Eluwa and a HND II student of Hospitality and Tourism
Management said a friend called her and told her that her house was on
fire.
Nothing was rescued
“I was told the
fire started from Mama’s room and the little girl, Abike, was burnt
beyond recognition while Mama and the baby were rushed to the hospital.
By the time I came back, everything in my room was burnt to ashes,
gone. My roommate was not around too. We couldn’t pick anything from
the house. We lost all our clothes, foodstuff, our secondary school
certificates, OND projects and many valuable documents,” she said.
Another occupant,
Rotimi Ogundipe, who retained his room at the lodge after graduation,
lost all his credentials including NYSC discharge certificate he was
issued a few days to the unfortunate fire.
“We tried to break
the door but Mama was also struggling to come out. She was holding the
baby when we eventually succeeded in breaking the door. We saw her on
the floor. She struggled to open the door. She was holding the baby;
she was weak, and was crying ‘baby’, ‘baby,’ referring to Abike. But it
was too late. I could only see her head and parts of her body. It was a
very sad thing. The old woman and her grandson died the following day
at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital Bauchi,” he lamented.
