5 burnt in Solwezi petrol explosion

FIVE people including a two-year-old baby are nursing serious injuries at Solwezi General Hospital after a drum of petrol exploded in their house.
Twenty-two-year-old Astridah Motoka Yomena of Kisasa area in Solwezi and her two-year-old son John sustained serious burns after their house caught fire when a drum containing petrol exploded on Wednesday afternoon.
Others are Moses and Trizer Yomena aged 17 and seven years respectively who are Ms Yomena’s siblings and Allan Masashi 23, a neighbour.
The five sustained injuries after they tried to pump out petrol from a drum into some containers within the house where there was also a brazier.
It is believed that Ms Yomena and her husband are involved in the illegal trading of fuel but her husband, who usually attends to customers, was not around when a customer wanted to buy the commodity.
Ms Yomena and her siblings, with the help of Mr Masachi who they had called to assist, opened the drum and tried to pump the fuel into the containers but it exploded, burning the whole house to ashes.
Solwezi General Hospital public relations officer Levy Muna confirmed the admission of the five and described their condition as serious.
“We received five patients that sustained serious burns yesterday (Wednesday) after they were burnt when a drum which was next to a brazier exploded in the house,” he said.
Mr Muna said Ms Yomena’ s husband had not been seen at the hospital from the time the five were admitted and stated that the patients were responding well to treatment.
Musele ward councillor Olix Kakwata described the incident as sad, especially that a two-year-old baby was also affected.
Mr Kakwata warned residents to desist from engaging in illegal activities such the selling of petrol.

times of zambia