Fire incident at Rivers illegal oil refining site kills 30 persons

A fire incident at an illegal oil refining site on Sunday night in Rivers State killed about 30 people.

It was gathered that the fire incident happened at Ibaa Community, Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

Emmanuel Daniel, who lives in the community, revealed that the victims had gone to trade on the illegal refining site when the fire consumed them.

“More than 40 people were there at the site. They were there scooping and bagging crude oil when the place caught fire.

“The fire came from a refining site that is close to the point they were bagging the crude.

“Many Isiokpo and Oduoha people, and Ibaa people were there. Seven of the people died inside the pit where they were scooping the crude. About 10 were severely burnt in the pit.

“About 30 people died at the site while over 15 were rushed to the hospital. I heard that three of them have died while being rushed to the hospital.”