The street of Oke Ibukun in Akure, Ondo State and its resident’s Christmas celebration turned into a me-hem as they woke up to a raging fire that razed a clinic, Universal Medical Clinic (Specialist Children Clinic), and killed the owner of the clinic, Dr. David Oguntuase.
Sympathisers could not hold back their tears as they watched the remains of the victim which were burnt beyond recognition.
It was learnt that the doctor worked as a Consultant Paediatrician at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo, while he maintained a private clinic in Akure.
Some residents were said to have made frantic efforts to rescue the doctor by getting the state firefighters to the scene. The efforts, however, failed, as none of the firefighters came to the scene in spite of the calls made to them.
A resident, Ajayi Olorunlogbon, explained that but for the efforts of neighbors around, the fire could have spread to other houses.
He said, “The incident occurred at midnight and I heard people shouting, ‘fire, fire.’ I quickly call other residents on the street.
“We mobilised and looked for ways to douse the fire, but all efforts proved abortive as the gate leading to the clinic was already locked. We had to eventually break it down to save the situation.
“We immediately called firefighters, but they told us there was no vehicle.”
One of the nurses, who saw Oguntuase on Wednesday after her day’s duty, told journalists that she was devastated at the news of his death.
She said, “We can’t state what exactly caused the tragic incident because all of us (nurses) had gone home when it occurred. All we can say is that the doctor came into the hospital and cracked jokes with us about Christmas and later told us to go home for a happy celebration.
“Before we all left, he instructed us to lock all the windows and doors, which we did. We never knew this would happen. It is very sad.”
She added that the clinic had discharged all the patients because of the Christmas holiday.
A resident on the street, Temitope Adelani, said initially, no one knew the doctor was inside the building at the time of the fire because his vehicle was on the premises.
“We never knew the doctor was inside the building because he did not park his vehicle outside. It was when we were making efforts to put out the fire that we realised the doctor had died in the fire,” he said.
He also said during the rescue effort, a gas cylinder in the house exploded, adding that there was no public power supply and no generator was on at the time of the fire.
Officers of the state fire service could not be reached, but the Police Public Relations Officer, Wole Ogodo, confirmed the incident, adding that the police had started an investigation into the cause of the fire.
He said, “The doctor was consumed in an inferno in his clinic and we have commenced our investigation. His corpse has been taken to the morgue.”
Ogodo added that the wife of the late doctor, Wuraola, reported the incident at the A-Division Police Station in Akure.
