Seven students of the Kwara State Polytechnic (Kwara Poly), Ilorin, Kwara State, have sustained varying degrees of injury during a fire incident at a gas refilling shop near a student hostel.
The fire incident took place late Saturday at Destiny Villa, Dola Abinbola Street, Elekoyangan area in the Ilorin East local government area of the state. It also affected a gas attendant.
Hakeem Adekunle, the Head of Department (HOD) Media and Publicity of the State Fire Service, issued a statement on behalf of the Director of the Service, Prince Falade John, explaining that the fire erupted when a gas attendant at a nearby gas shop was refilling a gas cylinder positioned several meters above ground level.
“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,” he said.
“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”.
The firefighter indicated that the total value of lost properties was estimated at N14.6 million, while the total estimated value of saved properties amounted to N72.2 million.
Following the incident, Director of Kwara State Fire Service, Falade, promptly deployed his team to assess the affected students and encouraged the public to prioritize safety measures to avert fire disasters.