12 Dead, Five Vehicles And Four Tricycles Burnt In Rivers Explosion – Police Confirms

The Police Command in Rivers State has confirmed that 12 persons died in the explosion that rocked the Rumuekpe community of Emoha Local Government Area of the state on Friday.

Naija News reports that the command said that five vehicles and four tricycles were burnt from the explosion this morning.

The Spokesperson for the command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement in Port Harcourt revealed that the preliminary investigation showed that the victims of the explosion were scooping crude product from the location of the explosion.

Iringe-Koko said “So far about 12 persons are believed to have been burnt to death. The identities of the victims are still unknown.”

The command disclosed that it has called on members of the public severally to stay away from illegal oil bunkering and contact it through telephone numbers, 08032003514 and 08098880134, to report any crime of such.

Naija News reported earlier that the explosion occurred along the Trans-Niger Delta Pipeline (TNP), and those affected are believed to be crude oil thieves who were engaged in the business of illegal refining of stolen crude oil.

It was also learnt that people around the tapping point, who had earlier loaded the stolen crude oil and those who waited for their turn were all burnt in the explosion.

It was gathered that the Executive Director, of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), Fyneface Fyneface, confirmed the incident through the centre’s Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS).

According to him, the explosion happened at about 2 am on Friday morning when a driver kicked the ignition of one of the buses loaded with stolen crude oil.

The bus that exploded, as gathered by Naija News, was being used to transport the stolen crude to the destination of the illegal refinery.