Three persons were found dead, they were suspected to be the remains of victims of the fire explosion that happened at Cawthorne Channel as they washed ashore.
Search and rescue teams discovered the dead bodies with scars of fire burns on Monday, at about 2 pm (1400 CET) on the shores of a fishing settlement behind Biekiri the Cawthorne Channel.
Local media reported that the location is around Iloamatoru Community for Bonny local government area of Rivers State, Southern Nigeria.
This was contrary to claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that there were no casualties in the fire incident that happened in their facility at Cawthorne Channel 1.
It was one surveillance team in that area that raised the alert of the discovery of two bodies but on arrival, they found only one as waves had carried the other one.
The search and rescue team carried the first body, then went on a search for the second one, only to discover two other bodies, making three altogether.
The immediate past Chairman of the Iloamatoru Community Surveillance Committee, Daniel Pollyn said that he is sad over the incident, he then asked families of staff of NNPCL, OML 18 Energy, Sahara Group, and Eroton Exploration & Production Company Limited that works around Cawthorne Channel 1 to check on their loved ones.
He said, “We will take their corpses to the Police to do the needful but that families of NNPCL, OML 18, Sahara, and Eroton who have people that are working in that area to check on their loved ones.
He encouraged them to also check with the Police to identify the bodies of their relatives.
He further asserted they should not take the claims of NNPCL seriously, though he would not interfere.”
Pollyn also said that on their part, all their community members that are working there have been accounted for but, “they cannot say the say the same for the company workers.
That their respective families should ask the company questions if their relatives have not come home since the incident occurred on Wednesday.”
It was on Wednesday, 19 February 2025 that the fire incident happened in one of the facilities at Cawthorne Channel 1 that are linked to OML 18 for Alakiri in Okrika local government area that is jointly operated by NNPC Eighteen Operating Limited, NNPC Limite,d and OML 18 Energy Limited.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, in his statement, said that the fire broke out in the dry crude storage barge BESTAF5 at Cawthorne Channel 1, Rivers State, and it spread to other barges.
Soneye also said that for the sake of the quick response of the company’s emergency teams and industry partners, they successfully contained the fire, and their quick intervention meant that the incident did not impact the flow of their station operations.
Soneye also said that no casualties were recorded as a result of the incident and all personnel that were at work on the said barges are safe. Furthermore, he said that NNPCL always prioritized the safety of their staff and stakeholders and they are fully committed to environmental protection and operational integrity.
“Most importantly, there were no casualties, and all personnel are safe.”
This claim by the company now has a question mark hanging over it due to the discovery of three lifeless bodies with clear burn scars on their bodies.
The search and rescue teams handed over all three recovered dead bodies to the police authority for further investigation.
