A gas explosion has reportedly burnt a family of six in their home at No 30, Izundu road, Abubo Nnewichi, Nnewi North local government area, Anambra State.

The victims include Mr Ebube Okeke, 40; his wife, Chioma 32; and their four kids aged between three and nine.

The family which occupied the first floor of a two-storey building were said to be in their apartment when the incident happened at about 6.15pm.

Information has it that the explosion was caused by a leaking cooking gas cylinder which ignited fire in their 3-bedroom flat residence.

According to a neighbour who gave her name as Justina, she said the sound of the explosion was heard across the entire compound jolting the inhabitants out of their apartments as they scampered for safety.

Her words, “There was a gas leakage from the cylinder at the apartment, but when it was noticed by the father who tried to stop it, it was already at an explosion point and it immediately went off.

“The explosion pulled down the walls of the apartment and extended to other sections of the building, with some other occupants sustaining varying degrees of burns."

She added that men of fire service were not at the compound in time to control the inferno, stressing that it took efforts of the neighbours to control the inferno.

The victims, who were initially taken to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi for medical attention, were subsequently referred to Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, because of the degree of the burns.

Confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, said Police patrol team led by DPO Otolo Division, Uro Justin, had since visited the scene saying that the area was cordoned off to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the situation.

He called on members of the public to always apply safety precautions when using cooking gas cylinders to avoid recurrence of similar ugly incident.