Twins Burnt To Death In Petrol Fire Incident

Tragedy struck in Gaun community, in the Magboro area of Ogun State, after two children, Taiye and Kehinde Oluwasegun, were burnt to death in an inferno that gutted their parents’ bungalow on Tuesday.


According to the PUNCH, the incident happened around 8pm while the family was preparing to have dinner.

It was gathered that the first born of the family, Iyanu, had tripped over a jerrycan of fuel, which also spilled some of its content in the parlour.

While the mother mopped the spillage, the fuel was said to have flowed to a lantern in the house, which triggered an explosion.

Residents, who were alerted by calls for help, reportedly rescued Iyanu; the second child, Korede; and their parents.

However, the twin children, aged three, were burnt to death.

When our correspondent visited the area on Wednesday, he observed that everything in the house was burnt as smoke still billowed from burnt property in the three-bedroomed bungalow.

Korede, six, who sustained burns in the leg, said his father,  Aina, was about taking their generator outside when his sister fell.

He said, “My daddy has two generators. We use the big one to pump water, while the small one is for the house.

“My daddy had put the small one in the room to pour petrol into it before taking it to the cage that was outside. My mummy was preparing food in the kitchen that time.

“My sister, who didn’t know there was a jerrycan on the floor, tripped over it. My mum then took the mop to clean spilled petrol. She was doing that when the fire started. There were six of us in the house: my dad and mum, my sister, the twins and me.”

According to reports, there was no motorable road in the community and the area was connected to the rest of Magboro by a stretch of rickety bamboo bridge.

A motorcyclist in the area, who did not identify himself, said the survivors were helped by residents to cross the bridge.

He said, “It was a difficult task getting the survivors to the hospital. We had to carry them on our backs with their burns.

“The woman kept asking for her twins, while the husband kept lamenting that he lost everything to the fire.”

Aina, a carpenter, suffered severe burns in his legs, hands, face and chest, while his wife, Abosede, a teacher, suffered burns in both legs.

It was learnt that she had yet to be informed that the twins were dead.