The victims of the tragic explosion in an illegal bunkering site in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area numbering 110 have not been buried as of Monday.
A night fire which started midnight in an illegal crude oil bunkering site at Abaezi forest, in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of the State, killed about 110 persons.
Most of the victims scattered within the forest are burnt beyond recognition.
The Network gathered that the Imo State government, the State Emergency management agency and other relevant bodies had agreed to give mass burial to the unidentifiable victims on Monday but were frustrated.
The Commissioner for Petroleum Resources and former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Goodluck Opiah, told the Network that a good number of the victims came from neighnouring states like Edo, Bayelsa, Anambra, and Rivers.
Investigation revealed that the plans to bury the victims of the illegal site on Monday ran into hitches because the government couldn’t get the requisite equipment to dig the mass grave or graves around the explosive site.
The Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Rt Hon Opiah attributed the difficulty in getting the needed equipment like excavators to prevalent superstitious belief among the owners of such equipment.
He said that the owners of such logistic firms refused to release them in spite of the huge amount of money offered rent them.
He said that state government had combed the nearby Omoku, Owerri Ahoada for the equipment to no avail.
Opiah added that the Government would contact more firms in Port Harcourt to ensure that the scarred remains of the victims are buried.
He said, “The Government actually fixed the burial for today. However, that didn’t take place because people simply refused to hire their equipment to us.
“We offered them even more than the required amount for such equipment like excavators and others but they simply refused.
“I think it is a problem of superstition. Most people don’t want their equipment to be used for corpses.
“However, we intend to make more contacts in Port Harcourt and other places in order to endure that they are buried.”
He said that the government had already provided resources for the materials needed by the traditional people from the area to carry out rites of appeasement in the area.
