Five children have been killed in a fire outbreak in Mpape community in Bwari area council of the federal capital territory.
According to an eyewitness, Mr Umaru Abubakar, the fire incident which took place over the weekend was as a result of power interruption by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company which caused sparks on electric cables.
Mr Abubakar explained that the spark was ignited by fuel on a nearby generating set. He added that the children could not be saved because of the high intensity of the fire.
A survivor and the eldest of the deceased children, Adamu said lack of water in the vicinity was a major challenge to the attempt at stopping the fire and saving the children.
“It was a very emotional moment, I can recall. You can imagine in an area like this, you can’t find even a single drop of water when you needed it most.”
He said.
Also reacting, the district head of Mpape, Alhaji Abubakar Gimba called on power distribution companies to be cautious of power interruption.
Alhaji Gimba also advised residents to be careful with the use of electrical appliances.
“We rushed to see how we might be able to quench the fire, but before we could quench the fire the whole five children were already dead.”
He said in broken English.
He blamed the disaster on power distribution companies who are fond of interrupting power supply every now and then, and who won’t supply adequate power for people to stop depending on power generating sets.
