By Chioma Obinagwam
There was palpable panic at the Miss Africa 2018 beauty pageant which held at the Calabar International Conference Center as the third edition winner, Miss Dorcas Kasinde’s hair caught fire.
The fire was caused by the fire works on the stage after she was announced winner.
Dorcas Kasinde, who emerged winner of the pageant, was still on stage, all smiles and hugging other contestants, when suddenly her afro hairdo, was engulfed in fire, from the firecrackers, released by the organisers of the show, which held in Calabar, Cross River State.
Kasinda, who contested as a Congo representative, had beaten Chimamaka Goodness Nnaemeka, of Nigeria and Zambia’s Gladys Kayumba, who emerged first runner and second runners-up, respectively.
But the night would have ended up in tragedy, were it not for the quick intervention of officials of the event, particularly Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, who was the compere at the otherwise highly successful show.
Even though the worst was averted, sources said that the new African queen, suffered some serious wounds, as the fire, reportedly burnt her scalp, severely.
The Congolese beauty queen took home $35,000 and a sports utility vehicle (SUV) as her winning prize, while first and second runners-up were also given $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.
