From Uchenna Ezeadigwe ,
Awka
Family house of a catholic priest on a missionary work in Chad, Rev. Father Joseph Merry Okafor has been gutted by fire at his country home, Ukunu village, Agulu in Anaocha local government area of Anambra state.
The incident which occurred Monday morning, according to family source, led to destruction of property worth N100 million, leaving the entire family homeless.
News Echo gathered that the fire allegedly caused by power surge started at about 8am that fateful Monday when only the octogenarian mother of the priest was at home and by the time residents arrived the scene, the inferno had escalated and damaged the property.
The priest’s elder brother, Mr. Hyacinth Uche Okafor, told newsmen from his base in Onitsha that efforts made to salvage the family property failed. He recalled that: “I was in Onitsha when I was called on Monday morning around 8am that our family house was on fire and before I came the entire building has been burnt to ashes.
I saw the fire service men but they could not do anything because by the time they arrived the entire house has been burnt to ashes”. “All properties were burnt to ashes, the house was built in triangular form with about four flats and each flat of four-bed room, has a car park. We lost over N100 million in the fire incident”, he added.
On the cause of the fire, Okafor said it was high voltage of electricity that sparked off fire from one of the flats. “My mother told me that she heard a sound that fell like a mango and as she hurried to the mango tree inside our compound to pick it, she discovered that it was the electric cables that sparked off fire from one of the flats and she started shouting for help.