The explosion of an illegal refinery in the Abaezi community in the Ogaji-Egbema Local government of Imo state has seen the tragic death of over 50 persons and destruction of many properties.
Punch reported that no fewer than 50 bodies burnt beyond recognition at the scene of the fire explosion, which was said to have happened at about 8pm on Friday.
The state Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Goodluck Opiah said, “This is a sad development. The Imo State Government has declared wanted Okenze Onyenwoke, who owns this illegal refinery. I advise him to hand himself over to the police or any security agency.
“This is wickedness; this is an economic sabotage. It is also destroying our youths. I therefore call on the youths to go away from this kind of illegitimate business. There are so many legitimate businesses one could do to make genuine money.”
An Indigene of the community, who identified himself simply as Ejike said every person at the illegal refinery site was killed in the explosion, adding that over 100 people lost their lives in the incident.
Ejike added that those who survived the explosion and were rushed to the hospital died on Saturday morning.
“No single person survived. Those who were rescued yesterday have all died this morning. The casualty figure is over 100. This is sad. People are rushing to look for their relations but the unfortunate thing is that the victims were burnt beyond recognition,” Ekije said.
It was gathered that some of the victims were caught by the fire while they were running and trying to escape. Unidentified burnt bodies littered the area even as family members were seen moving away the remains of their loved ones.
Discussion about this post