BY EMMA UNA, Calabar

TRAGEDY struck in Calabar, Cross River State capital, after a family of six were roasted in a midnight fire.

Felix Akpabio, an architect, his wife, Helen, and four children died when an inferno from cooking gas leakage engulfed their Anatingha, Calabar home.

The children were identified as Victor (13), Joshua (10), Delight (9) and Faith (7).
The inferno, which   occurred   at about 1 am on Thursday, was said to have been ignited   when Joshua   perceived the   smell of cooking  gas leaking from   the cylinder in their kitchen and woke the mother to alert her.

However, before the mother could do anything, the son struck a match which   ignited the fire.
“Before anybody could do anything, the fire had spread from the kitchen to other rooms and engulfed everyone,”   Obal, half sister of Helen, told Sunday Vanguard, yesterday.

She   said her sister read radiography and   was a staff of the accounts section of the   General Hospital,   Calabar and a member of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry.   “When the fire started, their cries for help attracted neighbours who came out to rescue them before the arrival of the Fire Service”, Obal explained.

She said the husband was   from Akwa Ibom State while her sister, Helen, was from Assiga in Yakkur Local Government Area of Cross River State. “They   completed that house not long ago and were living   there happily before this ugly incident; I have cried and cried until my eyes are aching”.

According to her, the first son of the family, Victor, was a student of Federal Government College, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and was in Calabar for Easter   holidays.

Cross River Police Command spokesman, Hogan Bassey,   who confirmed the story, called on members of the public to guard against home accidents.