The Cross River State Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Rt. Hon Itaya Asuquo has opened up on the cause of fire incident that claimed over thirty lives and destroyed property worth billions of naira at the Calabar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) in the early hours of Sunday.
30 others suffered various degrees of burns.
DAILY POST gathered that the tragic incident, which emanated from LINC OIL & GAS started at about 1.20 am on Sunday, was caused by negligence and sabotage by some individuals working in the oil firm.
The Commissioner confirmed that the cause of the recent explosion was negligence by the tank farm operators.
This was contained in the State Ministry of Information and orientation Bulletins.
Hon Asuquo stated that the incident could have been averted if the staff of the vessel and that of the tank farm had exercised reasonable caution in the discharge of petroleum product from the vessel into the tank farm.
He further lamented the breakdown in communication between the vessel and tank farm operators in allowing petroleum product to spill over to many areas and unto the gutter without anyone raising alarm until fire engulfed the entire place.
Asuquo called on the management of the tank farm to immediately investigate the circumstances that led to the overfilling of the tank and the breakdown in communication with the vessel operator.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it was Constituting a committee to look into the Calabar fire incident.
Accordingly, the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has sympathized with the victims.
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