Eighteen people, including a pregnant woman, have lost their lives following an explosion in an illegal oil refining site in the Ibas community in the Emuoha Local Government Area ofinary, Rivers State
f Rivers State.
Accordimg to reports, the incident occurred late Sunday night when some people in the community were scooping petroleum products.
A resident in the community, who gave his name as Emmanuel, said the victims were selling the product at the refining site when the place suddenly went up in flames.
The spokesperson of the NSCDC, Rivers State Command, Olufemi Ayodele, said in a statement that the deceased included a fresh graduate and a lady whose wedding was scheduled for next month
He said 18 persons were killed while 25 persons at the site were rescued by operatives.
He said preliminary investigations showed that the explosion was caused by a local refinery cooking pot constructed close to an oil reservoir that contained explosives.
