At least thirty people have lost
their lives while five others
were rescued as more fuel-
originated explosions rocked
Abuloma waterside and
Rumuokehi around Eneka area
of Rivers state today.
The thirty people who were
burnt to death and the five
rescued alive were trapped in a
vessel that caught fire at the
Abuloma water front.
Our correspondent in Rivers said
earlier that NEMA advance teams
are moving to the Abuloma
scene while fire fighters were
battling that of Rumuokehi
already.
Officials of NEMA's information
department are asking for help
from the fire service and multi-
national companies around
Abuloma for urgent assistance
to battle that fire.
At Rumuokehi, a total of three
tankers were seen still in flames
while one had been successfully
put out by men of the fire
service.
A source told Daily Trust that the
tankers were set ablaze by men
of the JTF because they were
being used by bunkerers.
Efforts are still being made to
contact the JTF spokesman to
get confirmation about their
involvement.
However, FRSC's sector
commander in Rivers state
Kayode Olagunja said this about
the Abuloma fire; "An oil vessel,
around 9:45am, caught fire and
exploded at the Abuloma water
front, Trans Amadi in Port
Harcourt.
"Fire is still restricted to the
water area. FRSC, NEMA, Police
and other rescue agencies are
on ground. Casualty figures are
yet unknown."
The Rivers Police Command said
it did not suspect any foul play in
the fires which gutted the
Abuloma jetty.
Spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam
told the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) that the the fire at
Abuloma jetty was caused by a
gas explosion.
He said that rescue agencies
tackled the fire at the jetty but
could not say if there were
casualties.
Ugwuegbulam advised people to
always be safety-conscious and
switch off all electrical
appliances when leaving their
houses, and also avoid scooping
petroleum products from
accident tankers.
The spokesman said that it was
dangerous to allow children to
light a gas cooker which could
cause fire outbreaks.
The Police also ruled out
sabotage in another fire today
which gutted parts of the
administrative building at the
state government owned the
Tide newspaper.
The state's Commissioner for
Information and
Communication, Mrs Ibim
Semenitari, told the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port
Harcourt that the inferno
destroyed the top floor of the
building.
She said that Gov. Chibuike
Amaechi had directed experts
from the state Ministries of
Works and Housing to evaluate
the extent of the damage.
Semenitari said the outcome of
the evaluation would determine
action to be taken on the
affected floor and that in the
interim, staff would be given a
temporary office.
‘’ It will be very important that
government does that. I have
briefed his Excellency the
Governor of Rivers state who
has directed that Honorable
commissioners for works and
housing look at the building so
that we can begin even with the
evaluation of the integrity of the
building.
‘’ I have briefed the honorable
commissioner for Special Duties
whose men were here to work
alongside men of the Total fire
service to put out the fire.
‘’ And, I believe that when you
have these kinds of things the
first things that happens, of
course, is that you find out the
cause of fire.
‘’ We are not competent to do so,
either at the ministry of
information or at the Tide . We
will expect that those who have
the capacity and the men to do
so will do so.’’
Semenitari said no life was lost
but that vital documents were
lost.
Mr Celestine Ogolo, the General
Manager of the newspaper
corporation, said the fire began
at about 2 a.m. on Friday.
He said the fire consumed the
entire top floor housing the
general manager’s office.
‘’ Well, it consumed the entire left
wing of the second floor
housing the general manager’s
office , the credit control unit,
the administration general
office , the board room and a
few other offices that are close
by.
‘’ A lot was lost, you know. We
bought new sets of computer
sets which were to replace
others in the computer room,
we lost all that.
‘’ We bought new sets of chairs
that we just bought; we are yet
to complete payment for these
chairs.
‘’A lot of furniture, a lot of
documents, a lot of very very
important documents. Some had
their original documents
destroyed because they were
also trying to fine tune their
papers for retirement .
‘’So, original documents have
been lost. A lot have been lost to
this inferno.’’