Father, three sons burnt to death in Calabar

By Edem Edem | Daily Post

A family of four, including, a father, Okon Esau Abanga, and three sons were burnt to death in Calabar, Cross River State.

The incident DAILY POST findings revealed occurred on Monday around 10 pm at Ikot Ekpo in Calabar Municipal Local Government Area of Cross River State.

An eyewitness, who is a member of the same Church with the victims, The Presbyterian Church, lamented the incident that claimed the lives of the four family members at a time.

He said the corpses have already been taken to Ukwa in Odukpani local government area of Cross River State for burial while the son who lids the lantern was seriously burnt to death.

“A daughter is receiving treatment at the hospital due to injury sustained during the inferno. The incident happened around 10 pm on Monday when the son of Elder Okon Esau Abanga who is preparing for his WASCE ran out of kerosene

“There were about six of them in a room and a parlor apartment along Ikot Ekpo in Calabar Municipal local government area of the State

“In fact, what makes the wife escape the disaster was that when the son told her that there was no kerosene in the lantern, she told him to refill the lantern and in the process, the lantern exploded and it burnt the occupants of the house,” the eyewitness stated.

He said that immediately the explosion occurred, the force flung a daughter out to a distance. It was also gathered that there was a generator in the room and it may be responsible for the explosion.

According to our source, suffocation may also be responsible for the death.’

It was also learnt that the father was a retired teacher and was Associate Minister in the Presbyterian Church.

“The dead children are all boys, one was a student of the University of Calabar and should be about 18, the other who was writing WAEC exams should be 16, then the other ones are said to be around eight and six respectively,” our source hinted.

When contacted on Tuesday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Irene Ugbo said, “It was a fire incident in the area. There was no electricity at that time

“The parent asked one of the victims to put kerosene in the lantern since there was no public electricity supply and instead of kerosene fuel was carried and poured into the lantern and it exploded,” stressed.