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Six-year-old among those nursing injuries from FESCO fire

Published:Sunday | February 23, 2020 | 12:00 AM
Damaged vehicles inside the burnt out shell of Heaven's FESCO service station in Mandeville, Manchester, following an explosion late Friday afternoon that resulted in the death of one man and injury of six other people- contributed.

A six-year-old child is among those still nursing injuries from Friday's explosion at the Heaven's FESCO service station in Mandeville, Manchester, the police have confirmed. 

Seven people were injured, four of whom received third-degree burns.

Yesterday, one of the victims succumbed to his injuries. He has been identified as 59-year-old Daniel Farquharson, a pig farmer and mechanic from Hatfield in Manchester. He died in The University Hospital of the West Indies last evening. 

A dozen motor vehicles were also damaged by the fire.

In a release yesterday evening, the petroleum marketing company, FESCO disclosed that preliminary reports point to an incident with a motor vehicle at one of the station's pumps, as the cause of the explosion, however, the company is probing further. 

The company is pleading with the public to refrain from circulating and commenting on videos of the incident via social media until investigations are complete. It also cautioned the public to desist from sharing and commenting on videos out of respect for the victims and their families.

It is also asking members of the public with information about the incident to send an email to feb21fire@gmail.com.   

FESCO did not indicate whether safety standards would be reviewed as a result of the fire, instead it said the safety of its customers, employees and the public remains priority. 

It also thanked members of the public, the police and fire brigade for their efforts in extinguishing the fire.  

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