Mile 2 Lagos Bakery Explosion: Hot Iron Pierces Man’s Stomach

Dec 23, 2012 – Mile 2 Lagos Bakery Explosion: Hot Iron Pierces Man’s Stomach

Doctors at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, are battling to save the life of a 23-year-old bakery worker whose stomach was pierced by a hot iron pipe while on duty. The victim identified as Timothy Ogunsola, still unconscious when Sunday Sun visited the hospital, was hit in an explosion that occurred at a bakery located in Mile 2, Lagos, on December 20, while on night shift. Some of his colleagues said that medical attention might be hitched due to failure to provide funds for a compulsory scan.

“They told us to deposit N70,000 in order to take him outside the LUTH hospital for initial test, but we are still looking for the money. We brought him here yesterday. “However, they are doing their best to save his life, but they don’t have the equipment for the CT scanning. They told us to get the money so that he could be taken to a private hospital for scanning,” one of them said amidst tears.

It was gathered that the victim, who hails from Ogbomosho in Osun State, has no relatives in Lagos. One of his colleagues told Sunday Sun that he had been taking shelter in the bakery premises and had planned to travel home to spend the Christmas with his family. “I am one of his colleagues, though I was not around when the explosion occurred. I know that Timothy had been sleeping in the bakery and doing some work in the night.

He planned to travel this Christmas, but its obvious the trip is no longer possible,” he said. Narrating the incident, another worker who witnessed the explosion, said that Ogunsola went outside to urinate and was caught in the explosion while on his way back to the compound. “We were outside the premises when the explosion occurred. He was going inside the bakery when one of the flying irons that is about four feet, pierced through his stomach. It was horrifying. We are looking for money to save his life,” he stated as tears ran down his cheeks.

The workers said Ogunsola was the only person that sustained serious injury in the incident. Ironically, the cause of the explosion could not be immediately ascertained. Hospital attendants confirmed that treatment was delayed initially because the scanning machine was faulty, adding that the patient had to be taken to a private hospital for proper CT examination. “We needed them to take him to another hospital for CT scanning. The bakery owner should pay N40, 000, so that we can start treatment immediately,” a medical doctor said.

A source told Sunday Sun that when he regained consciousness, the victim who remained in excruciating pain, begged that the doctors should be told to hurry up with the treatment because he was “very uncomfortable and didn’t want to die.” The owner of the bakery, who did not want his name in print, merely assured that efforts were being made to treat the victim and declined further comments on the incident.

[Source:DailySun]