We Need Help, Father Of Fire Victims Cries Out
3 min read
Elder Daniel Chukwu, the man in whose house 10 children, including two of his biological children were burnt while watching a movie, is appealing for financial assistance from members of the public.
Chukwu’s two children, James and Princess, are the only survivors, out of 10 children that were involved in the fire incident that took place on a Friday, January 1, 2021, in Ebonyi State. The other eight children died as a result of the severity of the burn they sustained from the fire.
According to Chukwu who is a deacon in the Assemblies of God Church, the unfortunate fire incident which erupted during the New Year celebration was prompted by gun powder.
Speaking with TNN in a telephone interview, he explained that the fire engulfed his residence and trapped the 10 children in the sitting room where they were watching a movie. Before help could come, the children had been severely burnt.
He added that though 10 of them were immediately rushed to an Abakaliki hospital for medical attention where they spent about six months, only two of them survived.
Chukwu called on well-meaning individuals, groups to come to his family’s aid. He said, “we need help, we have spent nearly four million naira, yet there is still more to do, anything that people want to do for us, we will highly appreciate it.
“Eight persons died, only my two children, the only two children I have survived. Nearly four million went inside, I am just looking up to God for assistance.”
While describing the incident as most shocking and unfortunate, he expressed grief, stressing that only God can console them, mostly the families of the deceased children.
The deacon who narrated the incident said “on the 1st of January, 2021, at about 10:00am, in my compound, at Akaeze in Ivo L.G.A of Ebonyi State, a group of people came in the name of New Year Celebration and started blowing gun powder, locally fabricated material that can destroy things and human beings in particular.
“Surprisingly, the carton of the gun powder was packed in the parlour close to the area it was blown. Don’t know if I should call it carelessness, the sparked element traced down to the parlour where about ten children, both mine and neighbours, were watching the television and set them all on fire. Before immediate help could come to them, they were all turned to black because of the magnitude of the injury sustained.
“They were all rushed to Abakaliki Hospital for medical attention. They spent six months in the hospital. Out of ten children from different womb, eight died, the two that survived, James and Princess, are my only children.
“The degree of the burn was over 40% to most of them, and they started dying one after the other. It was a heavy tragedy of the century, which no one can easily forget in a hurry.
“From Abakaliki hospital we moved my children to Orthopedics hospital, Enugu where the doctors and nurses rallied round on my children’s body to see how they can revive the situation.”
