A motel at Ezekwuabo Otolo Nnewi close to St. Thomas Anglican Church (Akwudo) called Padded Joint, caught fire in the early hours of this morning, 18th October 2019 at around 3:00 am.

An eye witness who pleaded anonymity, said that the owner of the motel, a woman (name withheld)  but popularly called “Obodo Umu Anumanu, a native of Ndimgbu in Otolo but married in Mbanagu-Otolo, closed the motel apartment where the three girls slept before leaving for her house last night before the fire occured.

The source  also revealed that it is a normal occurrence for her to close the apartment and go home with the keys even if there are girls that did not go out that night for their usual business.

The three girls could not escape because the rooms were locked and there was no way exit as at that time.

Efforts to get pictures of affected victims proved abortive because the Policemen that were detached to the scene blocked everyone that tried to do so including our reporter.

The corpses of the deceased have been deposited at Nnewi Diocesan Hospital (Akwudo) pending when the families of the deceased locate their bodies.