Abia / Umuimo - The death toll from last Friday Osisioma fuel pipeline explosion has risen to 200, even as protesting youths from the host communities of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot, yesterday, shut operation at the facility over the incident.
In an interview, President, Osisioma Ngwa Youth Congress, Emma Nduagu, said over
200 persons have died from the explosion.
About 2,000 youths Monday barricaded the gate of the depot with a coffin containing the corpse of one of the victims, lamenting that the pipeline explosion was caused by NNPC’s negligence, by pumping fuel through a leaking pipeline which had been abandoned for over three years. Additional 16 corpses were buried at Umuimo, while Okpokoroala village buried 10.
Some of the placards carried by the youths read: ‘NNPC should stop pumping fuel through abandoned pipelines,’ ‘What happened was planned mass killing of our people by NNPC,’ among others.
At the intensive care unit of Abia State University Teaching Hospital in Aba, over 40 victims were in critical condition, while their family members were seen praying.
Meanwhile, there're still signs of leakages on the abandoned pipeline, which could also ignite another round of fire.
● Vanguard
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