12 Confirmed dead while several injured in tank farm fire

It was suspected that the fire outbreak that claimed 12 lives could have been as a result of criminal activities of siphoning petrol from the tank farm.


The Calabar fire outbreak has killed at least 12 persons and injured many others. Cross River State, Punch reports.

The incident was said to have occurred on Sunday, July 16 at one of the tank farms located in the Calabar Free Trade Zone.

The Free Trade Zone, which is situated in on of the community, Esuk-Utan, is said to be host to several tank farms belonging to different companies in the country.

The fire allegedly started around 4am in the early hours on Sunday and affected tank farms around Dozy Oil depots in the free trade zone as well as other nearby facilities.

The high-tension cable and the transformer inside the depot, together with two vehicles and other facilities in the area were said to have been burnt to the ground.

The cause of the fire was not ascertained as at the time this report was filed.

Going forward, it was suspected that the fire could have been due to activities of criminal elements that were siphoning petrol from the tank farm.

"Over 10 persons have died in this mayhem while many others  are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. The premises is said to be owned by an oil company called Dozy Oil, but they leased some of their facilities to other companies,"

"All the tank farms are linked through pipelines. There is an unattended question which is why the operations manager of Linc Oil and Gas died in the inferno when his depot has no product? It means there was an illegal activity taking place at that time of the morning."

Confirming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said nine persons died in the fire.

Inuwa, who was on the ground to access the extent of the damage, told Southern City News that several other persons, who sustained varying degrees of injury, were being treated in one of the hospitals in Calabar. He added

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