Nine children have been taken to Warri Central Hospital to treat the severe burns they got in the explosions caused by suspected adulterated kerosene in Warri South and Udu local government areas of Delta State.
The victims were said to have suffered between 50 to 90 degrees of burns.
Some of the parents of the affected children told reporters in Warri that the incidents occurred on August 15 and 16 when the children attempted to fuel lit lanterns.
Two of the victims’ father, Johnson Obethe, said his son and daughter, both of primary school ages, were pouring kerosene into a lantern at 10pm on Sunday when it exploded and burnt them.
The case of 10-year-old Elozino Akwirorogbe and her brother of Merogun Street, Warri, was similar to the Obethes.
Their mother said the children were also filling their lantern with kerosene when the explosion occurred.
Elozino’s case was described as the most severe because the fire affected almost all parts of her body, including the face.
Explosions from suspected adulterated kerosene were said to have also occurred in Aladja, Udu Local Government Area.
Some patients at the Warri Central Hospital were said to have been brought from Aladja, following similar explosions in the area.
A toddler of less than two years was being treated at the hospital for the burns she got on Saturday from an explosion from a firewood stove after her grandmother poured the fuel on the woods.
Executive Chairman of Warri South Local Government Area, Mofe Edema, who visited the victims at the hospital in company of other council officials, called for an investigation into the incident.
Edema urged parents and guardians to enlighten their children and wards against fuelling already lit appliances.
The council chief promised to render financial aides, ranging between N20,000 to N30,000, to parents of the victims.
He also promised to relate their ordeal to the state government.
Eight children suffered severe burns in adulterated kerosene explosions in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area and Udu, Udu Local Government Area.
The children who are lying critically ill at the Central Hospital, Warri, suffered between 50 and 90 per cent burns.
Officials of Warri South Local Government Area, who visited them in the hospital, urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to investigate the sources of the killer product.
They urged the DPR to also stop further circulation of the adulterated fuel.
The police said they were ready to assist in the investigation.
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