A gas explosion over the weekend killed one student and left no fewer than 10 others with various degrees of burns at Good Shepherd Catering School in Orokeonuoha, Ebonyi Local Government Area (LGA) of Ebonyi State.

The Guardian gathered that the incident occurred when one of the students answered a phone call while cooking in the kitchen of the building, where girls aged 12 to 19 were undergoing catering studies.

Our correspondent reported that five of the victims were on life support during a visit to the intensive care unit of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA).

One of the victims, 17-year-old Chisom, is the daughter of Emmanuel Nwizi, a staff member of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Abakaliki Network Centre.

Mr. Nwizi told journalists at the Accident and Emergency Unit of AE-FUTHA that he received a call around 6:30 a.m. informing him that the kitchen section of Good Shepherd Catering School had been engulfed by fire. He said he rushed to the school immediately because his daughter is a student there.

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“When I got there (the catering school), I saw students discussing in groups. One of them said that if one of the students hadn’t entered the kitchen with her phone, the incident wouldn’t have happened.

“I went into the school and was told that the victims had been taken to the police clinic. I quickly rushed there, but they told me the victims had already been moved to the Accident and Emergency Unit of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.

“When I arrived at the teaching hospital, I saw ten girls who had suffered severe burns from the explosion. Out of the ten, five are still on life-support machines, including my daughter, who sustained severe burns, but I have hope that she will survive.

“The school authorities have been supportive since the incident occurred. They haven’t asked any parents for money yet, saying their priority is to save lives first before asking parents to contribute anything,” he added.