’10 injured’ in gas explosion at Ebonyi catering school

The Ebonyi police command says 10 people sustained various degrees of injury in a gas explosion that occurred at a catering school in the state.

Speaking with NAN on Saturday, Joshua Ukandu, police spokesperson in the state, said the incident happened at Orokeonuoha community, Ebonyi LGA.

Ukandu said no casualties were recorded in the explosion, adding that it was caused by a cooking gas cylinder in the school’s kitchen.

“The police are aware of the incident and it happened on Thursday— the victims were taken to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki,” he said.

“At the time the incident occurred, there was no record of death— there were students in the school known as Good Shepherd Catering School, Orokeonuoha, when the incident occurred.”

The police spokesperson described the incident as “very unfortunate”.

Ralph Ibiam, chief fire officer at the Ebonyi State Fire Service, said the agency did not receive the report of the explosion.

“Nobody called or informed the Ebonyi fire service about such an incident— gas explosions are becoming a trend in the state,” he said.