News Investigators/ Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, has promised succour for the victims of the gas explosion that occurred in Edibe Edibe Street in Calabar South Local Government area on Saturday.
The governor made the promise when he led some members of his cabinet to assess the extent of damage by the explosion that affected several buildings and a filling station.
While noting that the damage was huge, the governor described the incident as “unfortunate”.
“What I have seen here is shocking. It’s a huge damage.
“I know very well this kind of facility should not be in a residential area, but unfortunately, this one is here.
“I believe that things have to be done to safeguard these kinds of occurrences the next time.
“But we have several casualties now in the hospital, and we also have people’s houses that are damaged. I think the government is going to do something about it very quickly.
“In fact, we are saying free medical treatment for those who have had issues here and then we look at issues of compensation to see how people can get back to their lives as quickly as possible,” he promised.
Meanwhile, the Police Command in the state has confirmed that 38 persons sustained various degrees of burns in the gas explosion.
The spokesman of the command, ASP Sunday Eitokpah, who gave the confirmation, however, said no death had been recorded from the explosion.
The Police attributed leakage as the reason for the explosion that occurred in a densely populated area of Calabar.
According to him, at approximately 10:00 a.m, a gas explosion occurred during an attempt to transfer gas from the storage tank to the service tank by a gas attendant.
“During the operation, the hose detached, causing gas fumes to leak into the surrounding area.
“All attempts to secure the storage tap were unsuccessful, and the attendant had to evacuate immediately.
“The leak happened rapidly, leaving insufficient time to warn nearby residents.
“The area was engulfed in flames, resulting in significant property damage, the value of which is currently unquantified.”
NAN reports that the inferno consumed major sections of the station, including its fuel dump, as well as vehicles parked within the premises.
NAN
