Many Injured As Gas Explosion Rocks Rivers Community

Scores of persons were injured while some residents fled their homes after a gas plant went up in flames in Rumuodomaya community, Obio/Akpo Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday night.
The resultant fire at the gas station was also feared to have claimed the life of one person.
The gas explosion was said to have occurred at Adros Gas Plant off Port Harcourt-Owerri Airport Road, around the headquarters of Obio/Akpor at the Rumuodomaya suburb.
The explosion occurred about 8:45pm with a loud sound which caused panic among residents of the area with some fleeing their homes in fear.
The cause of the explosion could not be immediately ascertained as of the time of filing this report.
It was not clear whether there were casualties but some of the workers on the night shift were said to have suffered severe burns.
Police and other security agencies have been mobilized to the scene at the time of filing this report.
It was gathered that the reverberation from the explosion was first heard at exactly 8.43pm.
Sketchy information has it that the explosion started with one of the gas tankers within the gas plant before spreading to other gas tanks and reserve.
Some residents who spoke with The Tide, said over five persons suffered severe burns and were rushed to a nearby hospital, noting that the devastation rate was high due to failure of fire service to respond promptly to distress calls.
One of the residents, who said he works at a nearby company, said that a security man attached to the gas station was among those critically injured.
He said: “Musa is among them. We call him our papa. He is still in the hospital. The people in the hospital said they don’t know if he will survive. Still, even Innocent (another victim), is in the hospital now. Musa is a security man. He has been there as a security man. He is from Taraba State”.
An eyewitness said many people fled initially, adding that it was some residents, including Northern settlers, that mustard the courage with some indigenes, to go close to the scene when fire fighters were not forthcoming.
The resident said: “We just tried our best to quench (extinguish) it (fire). Nobody came here. It was only the police that were trying to protect people and the property and blocked the roads, so that cars will not enter. You know they are carrying fuel. The only thing is that the police people tried. Supposing that chamber explodes, what will happen in Rumuodomaya? No fire service”.
The Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Hon Solomon Eke, was said to have later mobilized security agencies and personnel of the fire service to the scene.
While the security operatives cordoned off that axis of Airport Road, the fire service personnel worked round the clock to put out the fire triggered by the blast.
Adros is unarguably one of the biggest distributors of cooking gas in Port Harcourt.
This is happening less than 24 hours after the Osadebe Gas Plant Explosion in Agbor, headquarters of Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said its officials had visited the scene of the incident and commenced investigation into the cause of the fire outbreak.
The Zonal Controller of the DPR, Port Harcourt Zonal Office, Bassey Nkanga, confirmed the incident to journalists, and added that the impact of the disaster has yet to be determined.
But as at the time of filling this report, the state police command could not confirm if any person actually died as a result of the blast.

By: Susan Serekara-Nwikhana