– NSCDC confirms 11 persons still missing
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Scores of boat passengers including traders are feared killed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State after some boats conveying goods and passengers were caught in a petrol fire explosion.
SweetCrude Reports gathered that the inferno which occurred on yesterday evening at the popular Bonny/Nembe/Bille jetty in Port Harcourt township, was ignited from the engine of one of the wooden boats at the jetty undergoing maintenance.
Eyewitnesses say the fire which razed for over three hours, did not only destroy the passenger boats at the me try, but also spread to nearby properties worth hundreds of millions, including a car, building and other boats laden with goods.
A witness identified Tamunosaaki said the fire started from the boat’s faulty engines, while a mechanic was fixing it, as a spark landed on some jerry cans laden with petrol used in running the boat, and then spread to other nearby boats, trapping the passengers inside.
“The mechanic was working on the engine, but as he was trying to start it, fire started. They tried to quench it but because it was fuel, it was hard to quench. So everyone started running out of the boat, and before we knew it, we heard a loud explosion while so many people were still inside the boat,” the eye witness said.
Another witness who narrowly escaped being a victim, said another woman who left the boat to buy something returned to discover that her three children who were on board one of the boats could not be found.
“We are traveling to Ibidi fishing settlement in Bayelsa State. I was almost a victim of the fire, the grace of God saved me. I went inside the boat to load my goods, after loading, I realized that I didn’t buy garri so as I was going down, immediately I stepped out of the boat, the boat exploded. I struggled to run out, people were in the boat, people died.
“One woman who came down from one of the boats, to buy something before traveling, was crying uncontrollably, she said her three children were in the boat, for now we have not seen them,” she said.
Confirming the development, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC in Rivers State said the fire which began around 4:10pm was eventually put out by 7:30pm.
NSCDC Public Relations Officer in Rivers State, Olufemi Ayodele, said preliminary investigations attributed the fire explosion to 70 drums of petrol laden inside the passenger boat.
Ayodele said NSCDC personnel were at the scene of the inferno to ensure hoodlums did not take advantage of the situation to loot, as well as to maintain peace and order at the scene.
He said, “On Monday 29th Jan 24 at about 16.10hrs, there was a fire incident in a houseboat at Nembe water side in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“Findings revealed that fuel was loaded inside the boat. The boat was loaded with about 70 drums of fuel and some gas filled cylinders. The fire started immediately the boat driver ignited the engine and began to move.
“About 20 people were on board but not all were able to jump out immediately. As at the time of writing this report, 11 people were still missing.
“The inferno caused damages worth millions of naira: a brand-new car and a building was razed down plus three wooden boats. The fire was put out by the locals at about 19.30hrs as no fire service was alerted in time.”