Azore Opio
22 December 2008
Simon Mukoko Mundenge, 60-year-old retired civil servant and his nephew Princely Elongo, in his 20s, are lying in CDC Cottage Hospital, Tiko, in searing pains from third-degree burns.
Mukoko, with his face burnt; his back, both arms and both legs wrapped in lint managed to talk to The Post on Saturday, December 20, from his sick bed.
According to his recount, it seems Mukoko bought a faulty gas bottle that was leaking on December 2 and took it over to his Street 7, Tiko Town residence where disaster struck him, his wife and his nephew at about 8 am.
Hear him: "When we connected the bottle to the gas cooker, the valve was too tight, yet the gas kept on flowing into the cooker. So we tried to stop it. As soon we removed the hose from the valve unit, the gas gushed out with a lot of force. My nephew, who lives two blocks away in the family house rushed to my help.
We tried to tie up the outlet with a rubber strap, but the pressure was just too much for us. That is when my wife became involved. I asked if there was anything in the kitchen that could spark. The fridge was on, so my wife went to unplug it from the mains. That is when we heard a loud bang."
Mukoko said the explosion banged the kitchen door shut, trapping them inside the inferno that had been ignited inside the room. After a struggle though, they got the door open and rushed out. But they had taken a lot of burns on their bodies.
The trio were evacuated to the Tiko District Hospital. But as their conditions worsened they were transferred to the CDC Cottage Hospital on December 3.Three weeks on, the victims are still squirming in pains with little hope of ever recovering and leading normal lives once more.
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