Scene of fire at Hydropet Petroleum Station at Rumuokrushi axis of Port Harcourt on Tuesday November 28.
*Call for immediate evaluation of gas tank
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Residents living within the neighbourhood of Hydropet Petroleum Station located in Rumuokrushi, a suburb of Port Harcourt, partially gutted by fire on November 28, have raised concerns about possible explosion even after fire had been put off.
Some of the staff of the gas station were said to have sustained various degrees of burns but no death was recorded.
An eyewitness who gave his name as Owens Kachi who lives within the neighbourhood expressed fear that the gas surface tank still containing gas could ignite fire and explosion if the remaining contents are not professionally evacuated and emptied.
He told our Correspondent that residents who were thrown into panic when the fire started with the possibility of its spreading cnto their buildings called in the fire service personnel.
The firefighters from Shell Petroleum Development Company,SPDC,who arrived with three trucks battled for several about three hours before it was extinguished.However, the gas station suffered a substantial damage.
It was difficult to ascertain the immediate cause of the fire. However, later reports have it that fire was ignited due to a malfunctioning of one of the gas pipes.
Expectedly, there was pandemonium and temporary breach of vehicular movements while both the Police and security agencies battled to ensure that hoodlums did not cash on the situation to loot.