No fewer than eight people, seven of whom were students from Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, along with a gas station attendant, escaped a near-death experience, during a fire incident at a gas refilling shop adjacent to a student hostel on Saturday night.
According to the State Fire Service, varying degrees of injuries were sustained by them during the incident.
Destiny Villa on Dola Abimbola Street, situated in the Elekoyangan area near the main campus of the Polytechnic in the Ilorin East Local Government Area of the state, was the location where the fire incident unfolded.
According to Hassan Adekunle, Head of the Department of Media and Publicity at the State Fire Service, the fire began when a gas attendant was refilling a gas cylinder positioned several meters above ground level at a nearby gas shop.
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‘The cylinder fell and exploded, concurrently releasing gas from the charged hose used for refilling. This exacerbated the fire, resulting in injuries to seven Kwara State Polytechnic students and the gas attendant.’
‘The firemen promptly departed from the station and upon arrival at the scene, they encountered a building with about 17 self-contained rooms fully ablaze. Four rooms were affected, and eight individuals sustained injuries’.
Adekunle mentioned that the assessed value of lost property was N14.6 million, and the estimated value of saved property was N72.2 million.
Prince Falade John, Director of Kwara State Fire Service, took swift action following the incident, deploying his team to assess the affected students’ situation on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
However, the Director encouraged the public to prioritize safety measures, emphasizing their role in preventing fire disasters.