Newsfront Online …Telling the Public as it is
No fewer than 25 persons have lost their lives following an explosion from an illegal oil tapping point in Omoku, Ogba/Egebema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident occurred on Sunday morning, after the youths allegedly broke a pipeline belonging to one of the multinational oil firms operating in the areas, and began using jerrycans and buckets to scoop fuel when the tragedy struck. A source who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that while 25 persons were feared dead, many suffered varying degrees of burns and were receiving treatment in different hospitals in the area.
She said, “It is a very terrible incident. Imagine the death of 25 people in such a time. We learnt some youths bust a company pipeline. “If you go to the General Hospital and other private clinics in Omoku, you will see many of the injured people scattered all over the place in both government and private hospitals taking treatment.”
Another source who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity said the inferno occurred as a result of attempts by suspected oil thieves to light mosquito coils. He disclosed, “The leakage was from an obsolete pipeline belonging to one of the oil companies operating in the area.
