Pregnant woman, 5 others killed as transformer explodes in Abuja
After an electric transformer went up in flames at Tundunwada, Lugbe – a satellite town in Abuja – fearful residents ran around in panic on the streets.
The transformer had exploded momentarily sending unusually high voltage into homes in the area.
Noticing the power surge, residents who were indoors tried to shut down their home appliances. Six of them reportedly died in the process.
Among the dead was a pregnant woman who recently moved into the area, witnesses say. She reportedly tried switching off a fan in her apartment only to get electrocuted.
No one knew she had passed till her son alerted the neighbourhood.
Her tragic story is similar to that of Joseph Terva.
“We were outside when the transformer exploded and started burning for about 10 minutes,” Terva’s 24-year-old friend, Geoffrey Atoh, told Punch.
“Everyone was afraid and started running helter-skelter. It was later that I heard that my friend, Joseph, was electrocuted. We rushed down to his house and found that he had died.”
Joseph Moses, 22, reportedly saw the blazing transformer has tried changing the fuse of his electricity switchboard. He suffered a serious electric shock in the process. He died before residents could get him to hospital.
Three other people were killed by the surging voltage.
Six-year-old Destiny Okolo, as well as three other people, was injured in the incident.
“We attempted to run from the house, but the electric current injured Destiny in the face and behind the ear,” said the boy’s mother who was indoors when she “felt electric current moving through our floor tiles”.
Destiny is being treated at home. The mother said they’d spent N11,000 on medical bills.
Donald Terlumun, another injured resident, said he spent N20,800 on medical bills.
Residents are blaming the tragedy on Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) because, according to witnesses, no one tampered with the transformer before it exploded.
AEDC’s spokesperson Oyebode Fadipe, Tuesday, said the incident – which happened last Saturday – was being investigated.
“The incident happened around 9pm on Saturday, four persons injured about six persons died.”
It’s, however, not clear if families of those killed and survivors who footed their own medical bills would be compensated..
