The Maritime Workers Union has revealed that about twenty corpses have been recovered from the Bonny/Bille Jetty after a fire explosion that occurred in the area, destroying properties worth millions of naira.
The explosion which occurred in the early hours of Monday had claimed lives including that of two babies and two pregnant women.
It had also destroyed properties in the area including large local market boats and passenger boats.
Governor Nyesom Wike, who expressed sadness over the incident had called for an investigation into the event.
The state Commissioner for Special Duties, Emeka Onowu, while speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday had blamed the fire on a gas explosion.
He also said no one should blame the government for being wicked or being insensitive, noting that the planned demolition was in the best interest of the people to end all forms of illegal bunkering activities.
“We discovered that a gas cylinder loaded in a boat alongside about 60 jerricans of Kpo-fire (illegally refined petroleum products) caused the fire outbreak.
“The gas exploded and caught up with the Kpo-fire product and that was how the fire spread.
“So far, we have about nine casualties, including a pregnant lady, a two-month-old baby and two children aged nine and eleven.
He had also issued a two weeks ultimatum to all those living around the jetty to vacate the area after which demolition of shanties will commence.
A representative of the Maritime Workers Union, Nembe Unit, Clifford Emmanuel said the exact casualty figure is unknown, however, the injured have been hospitalized.
According to him, “In two units, boat Nembe Waterfront and Bonny units, we lost over 100-speed boats estimated at N1.7 bn. And for the duck workers’ wooden boats, they lost about three big boats, which is over N100m.
“We can’t quantify properties that were destroyed because they were coming with lots of goods,” he stated.
He appealed to the state government to provide fire-fighting vessels at the jetty to forestall such incidents.
