The incident which occurred at about 10:30a.m., destroyed two rooms in a flat attached to a one-storey building belonging to one Patty Mbamalu.

An eyewitness, Mr Okey Okwudili said that the fire was caused by a gas leakage.

He said that it took the timely intervention of youths to save the entire building from being consumed by the inferno.

An occupant of the building, Mr Micheal Okafor, whose family members were affected, expressed shock at the incident, saying that he was not at home when the incident occurred.

Okafor said that three of his children, his wife, and three of his neighbours sustained serious injury and had been taken to hospital for treatment.

He said that his wife and two of his daughters were in the kitchen preparing food when the gas cylinder exploded.

Confirming the incident, Mr Haruna Mohammed, spokesman for the Police Command in the state, said that the victims had been taken to Boromeo and Minas hospitals in Onitsha for medical attention.

Mohammed, who said there was no loss of life, added that the victims were responding to treatment.

He listed the names of the victims as Nonso Okafor, Nkechi Okafor, Chisoba Okafor, Ebuka Okafor, Nwabuchi Chukwutor, Chialuka Nwabuchi, and Ifeoma Nwabuchi.

Mohammed, who said,“the fire allegedly emanated from a gas cooker recently procured, which exploded in the course of using it for the first time,” added, however, that further investigation was ongoing.