Fire Guts 15 Houses At Elechi Beach

At least, 15 houses were destroyed by fire at the Elechi Beach water front in the Diobu axis of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Monday.

The fire, The Tide gathered, which started at about 5.00am was allegedly ignited by fuel spill in the environment  resulting from he activities of illegal oil Sunkerers. The fire later engulfed other buildings.

An eye witness revealed that the incident began when some security operatives in the state stormed the Elechi Beach water front in the early hours of Monday to arrest some miscreants that were involved in illegal bunkering activities in the area.

The eye witness also stated that the fire was ignited, when some of the security operatives in the process of arresting the suspects and doing away with the petroleum products seized from them, set fire on the petroleum product.

The inferno was said to have advanced to other houses, as no immediate remedy was available and men of the State Fire Service and other fire fighters could not easily access the area to contain the fire.

It was gathered at the time of this report that over 16 houses including temporary and permanent structures were destroyed in the inferno.

Elechi Beach water front for some time now has allegedly been known as base for illegal bunkering activities, where many young people who had abandoned school go to earn their living through the bunkering activities.