On Christmas eve, the fireball destroyed nearby buildings and left
burned corpses littering the plant in Nnewi, according to witnesses. The blaze consumed
victims who had been waiting in line to collect crude oil from the Inter Corp
Oil Limited gas plant – a subsidiary of Nigerian conglomerate Chicason Group. ‘The fire exploded like a bomb, and the whole
gas station went up in thick, black smoke amidst an explosion from cooking gas
cylinders,’ a witness is reported as
saying. Most of those killed had been in
the station queuing all day to get their cylinders refilled.’
Further reports state that
most of the bodies and the few badly injured victims were evacuated to the
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Nnewi. ‘Many of them were burned
beyond recognition, and I doubt if many family members of the dead victims
would be able to identify the remains of their loved ones,’ it is stated. Another report puts that the gas plant was
completely destroyed and several houses around the scene damaged.
Sad that disaster struck
when locals were queuing for their fuel for Christmas Day meals when the fire
broke out. Nigeria is Africa’s largest
oil producer, deriving the bulk of its money through the commodity. But
accidents are a frequent occurrence in the country, where pipelines are often
damaged by people stealing crude oil. The country loses an estimated 300,000
barrels a day to gangs that syphon crude from pipelines in the oil-rich
southern states, according to the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar 25th Dec 2015 @ 5.30pm.
Photo credit : dailymail.co.uk
