Tragedy struck at the industrial town of Nnewi as more than one hundred people yesterday got burnt as a result of fire disaster which occurred at the Inter Corp Oil Limited (LPG Gas Plant), a member of the Chikason Group.
Eye witnesses said the fire started at about 11am which was caused by an explosion that occurred when a gas truck was making an attempt to discharge its gas consignment without waiting for the specified mandatory cooling time period while customers were said to be refilling at the same time.
All the people who went to the gas plant to get a refill were allegedly burnt to ashes while some of the victims who were in the neighborhood and passers-by also got trapped in the inferno.
Burnt remains of victims and other badly affected persons in the vicinity of the gas plant were taken to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi while the heavy inferno did not allow rescue workers gain assess into the factory where the majority of the victims allegedly to be in their hundreds were trapped.
All efforts to get the attention of the Anambra state fire service did not yield any result until colossal damage had been done. However one of the fire officers Mrs Mary Ofia excused the fire service personnel in Nnewi as she claimed that their fire engine was vandalized by angry mob when they went for an operation at Nkpor recently due to poor showing.
Also lost alongside huge human casualty were many buildings and vehicles numbering above fifty around the gas plant were equally affected and some dead victims were actually recovered in their homes nearby.
“My mother was preparing pepper we want to use to cook tomorrow after she returned from the market, the next we heard was the explosion that rocked the entire vicinity.
“I ran for my life and escaped with minor injuries but my mother was not lucky.
“She was not as fast as myself; when the fire came down a little bit, the next thing I saw her dead body.
“Look at the chicken we planned to kill tomorrow for Christmas celebration…” Ikechukwu, one of the survivors lamented.
A similar thing happened at another residence where a woman and her daughter were lucky to remain alive though with second degree burns.
The chairman of Anambra state Red Cross, Prof Peter Katchi who head rescue operations said that he is extremely worried about the presence of many filling stations in residential areas in the state.
He pointed out that the situation would have been worse if the affected gas plant was situated in thickly populated areas.
He pointed out that the Red Cross and the Anambra State Emergency Agency would declare war on owners of filling stations sited at residential areas in the New Year.
When the fire fighters from Awka and Okpoko finally arrived, it took the intervention of the security agents to save them from being lynched as angry mob questioned why Nnewi fire service was not functional.
A combined team of the army, Federal Road Safety Corps, the police and vigilante took hectic period to disperse the surging crowd to avoid more casualties that could result from more explosions.
Chuks Collins from Nnewi