At least five persons have been confirmed dead after an explosion at the tank farm of Matrix Energy Limited at Ifiekporo in Warri South council area of Delta State.
The gas section of the tank farm exploded into flames on Friday evening and killed the victims who were said to have attempted to flee for safety before they met their untimely death.
It was gathered that the bodies of the victims who are yet to be identified were found and recovered along the bank of Warri River by local divers on Sunday.
According to sources, they were reportedly outside the tank farm premises.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government on Saturday sent a delegation who confirmed that no death was recorded but confirmed 12 persons were injured during the incident.
However, Matrix Group Head of Safety, Mr Fred Olomuro confirmed that some bodies speculated to be that of those trying to escape the fire have been recovered.
He said: “Today (Sunday) afternoon, local divers from our host community recovered five lifeless bodies that drowned, probably while fleeing for safety during the fire incident on Friday. Where they died is some distance from the scene of the fire.
“Most offices had closed for business on that fateful day. Their bodies were recovered along the bank of the river away from our premises where the incident occurred.
“We’re greatly pained by the loss of these victims. We are already in touch with the family of the victims. We commiserate with the families on this unfortunate incident,” Olomuro stated.
Similarly, another source in the community confirmed that “only four bodies” were recovered, while efforts are still on to identify the victims.
He added: “the local divers would continue the search today (Monday) as they suspect that there may be other victims.”