12 Agip Workers Die In Bayelsa Pipeline Explosion

About 12 persons were
killed while three others were seriously injured in a pipeline explosion that occurred Thursday along the Tebidaba-Azuzuama trunk line in Southern IJaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
While the 12 dead persons were said to be oil workers, the injured three persons were yet to be identified.
The trunk line is said to belong to the Italian Oil giant, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).
A statement by an ENI spokesperson, Mr Filipo Cotalini, the parent company of NAOC, the cause of the explosion was being investigated.
“An explosion occurred on Thursday, July 9, 2015, late afternoon, at the site of the repair works of the Tebidaba-Clough Creek line,  an oil pipeline in Nigeria’s onshore Niger Delta, previously damaged by acts of sabotage”, Cotolini said adding that 12 members of the maintenance team of a local service company were killed while three others were seriously injured in the explosion.
“The causes of the incident are still under investigation by both ENI and the local authorities,” the company spokesman said and expressed condolence to families made up.
However, community sources said the explosion occurred during a joint investigation visit for the official clamping of a spillage site along the route of the Agip pipeline and that victims of the explosion were burnt beyond recognition.
Officials of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, Department of Petroleum Resources, representatives of the Azuzuama Community, officials of NOSDRA, and Agip officials of the affected workers. the joint investigation team.
The spokesperson of Bayelsa State Police Command, Mr Asinim Butswat confirmed the incident and said the incident occurred while the company’s workers were carrying out routine maintenance at the trunk line.
According to him, 12 persons, including a soldier were burnt beyond recognition while those injured were receiving medical attention at an undisclosed hospital.
Moreso could  be recalled that explosion recently occurred at an Agip facility at Ebocha in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Chris Oluoh