A fire has gutted the Ebonyi State Health Cold Store housing immunisation and solar units received from the National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA).
Dr. Moses Ekuma, Commissioner for Health, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday.
The Commissioner said the destroyed facilities are worth over N100 million.
“These include vaccines, vaccine carriers, cold chain boxes, laptops, documents, five refrigerators, two solar refrigerators, 45 solar batteries and inverters.
“Others include hospital beds and foams received from the NPHCDA, Abuja, for distribution to local government areas (LGAs) next week,” he said.
Ekuma thanked God that no life was lost and commended the Commissioner for Power and Energy, fire officers and security personnel for their prompt response.
“In fact, different vaccines such as BCG, pentavalent and HPV vaccines stored in that cold room were burnt,” he added.
He noted that the exact cause of the fire is still unknown, adding that there had been no public power supply in the state for the past five days.
“The solar system, which has been the alternative power supply, was not working. However, we invited the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) officials to restore power on Thursday,” he explained.
Mr. Frank Oka Ota, an officer of the State Fire Service, said he received a distress call at about 5:18 a.m. on Friday.
“We were able to mobilise our men immediately. We commend the State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, for procuring two brand-new fire trucks, which have been very helpful,” Oka said.
