Tragedy struck Okari Jetty in the Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State on Wednesday when over 10 persons reportedly died after inhaling fumes from petroleum products while attempting to scoop fuel from the area.

The victims were said to have gone to the jetty to collect petroleum products that had spilled onto the water when they were allegedly overwhelmed by the fumes and choked to death.

The Commander of the Civilian JTF in Okrika LGA, Igwe Godswill, who confirmed the incident in an interview with our reporter, described it as tragic, saying most of the victims were youths searching for means of livelihood.

He said, “It is so pathetic that this incident is happening in our community. These are young guys who have gone to search for their daily bread, only for the fumes from the fuel that was pumped to kill so many of our youths under the bridge.

“Many of them were choked to death. These are not criminals or anything, but they went out in search of their daily meal. I am advising the community, the leaders and every other person that we need legitimate jobs in the community.

“These things are risky, but when you cannot feed your children, most times, those risky jobs become the only option.”

Godswill explained that the victims had gone to scoop petroleum products floating on the water when they were overcome by fumes from a vessel loading petroleum products at the jetty.

He said about 10 bodies had been recovered, adding that only some of the victims could be identified because of the condition of their remains.

“We saw about 10 of them. Four were still unrecognisable, while four persons were identified. The rest could not be identified because their bodies were badly damaged and their faces were severely affected,” he added.

The Civilian JTF commander called on the Rivers State Government, community leaders and other relevant authorities to create employment opportunities for youths in the area to discourage them from engaging in dangerous activities.

He said, “I am calling on the relevant authorities, community leaders, the chairman and every other person to look into this. It is not enough to stop them because, yes, it is a risky job, but they should create jobs for the youths so that everybody will have something to eat.

“Something that can put food on the tables of these young men, the youths and every other person. I can tell you for free that it will not just stop because when that source is the only livelihood, people will still go there.

“Even as of yesterday, people still went there, despite the fact that we had confirmed that people had died from the same activity. So, we are calling on the leaders to look into it and see how they can create job opportunities, especially for the youths.”

However, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, ASP Agabe Blessing Karbolo, said the victims reportedly died while attempting to steal crude oil.

Karbolo, while responding to an inquiry on the incident, said no official complaint had been received by the command as of the time of filing the report.

She added that the police had commenced an investigation to ascertain the number of persons who died in the incident and establish the circumstances surrounding their deaths.