Three-Year-Old Girl Dies After Akure Explosion

The little girl who sustained serious injuries in Saturday’s, December 13th, gas explosion in Arakale market in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has died.

According to Sahara Reporters a neighbor confirmed that Tofoluwa, who was a kindergarten pupil in the neighborhood, died on Monday.

The girl’s condition was life-threatening after explosion.

The Ondo State officials said that eight persons were injured in the fire, and pledged to punish the committers.

Sources confirmed that Tofoluwa was visiting her grandparent’s house near St. Thomas Anglican Church in Ararkale when the explosion occurred. The house is located just behind the scene of the blast.

However, Tofoluwa’s mother and grandparents suffered serious chest and face burns in the incident, and are in dangerous condition at the trauma center in Ondo.

A neighbor, who named himself as Bayo, said the loud sound and heat of the explosion caused the death of the Tofoluwa.

He said: “The little girl was sleeping at the sitting room and suddenly the gas explosion occurred with a big sound [boom]. The intense heat from the explosion must have killed the girl because she sustained burns on her face and leg. The building was almost on fire while the window net and frame got burnt which were closed to where Tofoluwa slept.”

Bunmi Adeniran, a trivial trader next to to the burnt house told journalists that Tofoluwa’s mother always brought her to the grandparent’s house every morning, from where she went a nearby kindergarten. 

“I don’t know her father but her mother would always bring her here every day because she goes to school at the second street,” she said, describing the little girl as a very friendly child who loved to play.

“This gas explosion is a disaster to all of us. Even her mother and grandparents are in critical condition at the trauma hospital as I speak with you,” she said.

The residents of Akure experienced one of the worst explosion to ever hit the ancient city on Saturday, December 13th.

The blast was firstly considered to have been the work of Boko Haram sect but sources have disclosed that it was an explosion at a gas station located along the Arakale Road area of the city.