Kogi dep gov’s wife, 3 others injured in building explosion

Source: CHIOMA IGBOKWE/Tribune - Nigeriafilms.com

Wife of the Deputy Gov­ernor of Kogi State, Mrs. Tokunbo Awoniyi, escaped death by the whiskers yesterday morning when her house collapsed and trapped her along with at least three other people.

The building listed as 19B HFP Way, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos was ripped apart by the explo­sion.

Mrs. Awoniyi, three oth­ers in the building as well as the family's driver, who was said to be washing a car out­side, all suffered injuries. They were quickly rushed to a hospital immediately they were rescued from the rubble.

The South-west zonal spokesperson of the Na­tional Emergency Man­agement Agency (NEMA), Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the inci­dent when contacted, said the destruction might have been caused by cooking gas cylinder that probably exploded about 7:15am.

His words: “The explo­sion and subsequent build­ing collapse affected three occupants, who were inside the building at the time and the driver who was wash­ing the car outside.

Although no life was lost, the four injured per­sons have since been evacuated to St. Maria Hospital, Yaba, for proper treatment.

He disclosed that men of the Police Anti-Bomb Squad and Police Disaster Management Unit also re­sponded to the distress call and were working to ascer­tain the actual cause of the explosion.