On Saturday in Warri, Delta state,tragedy struck as the
Pastor in charge of Otumara parish of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), John Kayode, lost his wife and
four children to a midnight inferno which destroyed part of the main church
building and property valued several millions of naira. Sources said bodies of
the victims were burnt beyond recognition.
According to an eye witness, who identifies himself as
Bright, all rescue efforts by those who came early enough to the scene were
fruitless due to the iron protectors on the door at the scene of the
incident at Emiko Close, Angle park.
“Last night at about 11pm, some men were going around, it
was like they noticed there was light problem, they were like trying to trace
where the fault could have come from. On the long run, they came like three
times and since they couldn’t get where the fault was coming from, they left.
Bright said.
‘’At about 12:30am, I heard the woman screaming for help, so
we came out. When I got there, I saw the last daughter of the pastor, standing
very close to the window, banging on them. There was no way I could help, I saw
one rubber out there with which I started scooping water to put out the fire.
“Later on, I saw the woman (pastor’s wife), struggling with
the door, like a middle wooden door, she was shouting for help while she was
trying to open it. The three other children could not be seen struggling at
all, it was like they had been choked with the smoke in the house because where
they slept was where we found them.
“It took like one hour before one man called fire fighters,
because it was midnight and we were all shouting and trying to see how to
rescue them. It took another one hour before the fire fighters came. By this
time, the woman had died, even the little girl. The little girl was found dead
close to the window because she was just there banging, but there was no way we
could help.
“The windows and the doors were all guarded with protectors,
it was difficult to go through, if not we would have broken through to rescue
them. It took about another fifteen minutes after I came out and we couldn’t
hear their voices again” Bright stated.
A member of the church, Mrs. Margeret Ichibo, said “I left
the Church after prayers with her, that was in the day. I rushed back few
minutes to 1a.m., and fire fighters were just labouring to break in, but it was
too late.
“National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, personnel tried
to evacuate the bodies, but we advised that police be informed first. By the
time police came, NEMA had switched off their phones. It took the courage of
youths in the neighbourhood and some of the fire service to bring out the
bodies between 5 and 6a.m. The bodies have been deposited at the Warri Central
Hospital Mortuary.” he said
The pastor failed as he was said to have travelled outside
the state.
5 Comments
This is very terrible
ReplyDeleteHorrible...
ReplyDeleteSo sad
ReplyDeleteBut those peeps outside wldve done something,even if it means bringing the iron down...
ReplyDeleteDs is very terrible
ReplyDelete