Tony John, Port Harcourt
No fewer than eight persons have reportedly lost their lives in a pipeline explosion that occurred in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The incident occurred yesterday, in Kom Kom community, in Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state.
Sunday Sun gathered that the oil facility belonged to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
But, Shell spokesman, Bamidele Oladosu, said there was no record of any explosion on SPDC facility in Oyigbo.
A resident of the area, Jude Nwanma, said that residents of Izuoma where the incident occurred woke up to a thunderous explosion that occurred from a pipeline that crisscrossed the area.
Nwanma said more than 10 persons might have lost their lives in the explosion.
He said that the explosion caused pandemonium in the area just as residents scampered for safety.
“It was later I learned that the explosion occurred in one of the pipelines I suspected to be petrol pipeline and that more than 10 persons lost their lives in the incident,” he said. The Chairman of Oyigbo Local Government Area, Gerald Oforji, who confirmed the story, said that 10 persons died in the explosion.
Oforji said the bodies of the victims were recovered from the scene when the fire was put off. He said that no house was destroyed when the explosion occurred.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), has confirmed the story.
Omoni was quoted as saying that he was yet to be briefed on the number of casualties. He said the incident occurred when workers of a company were carrying out repair work in one of the pipelines at Kom Kom in Oyigbo.