About 109 persons have been burnt to death after a gigantic fire erupted in an illegal oil refinery site at Abacheke Kpofire in Egbema community, Ohaji/Egbema LGA of Imo State, Friday evening.
The incident which occurred on Friday evening claimed many lives, while some others got seriously injured.
Meanwhile the Head of Operations of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Ifeanyi Nnaji, said only 20 persons died during the inferno.
In a twist of fate on Saturday, the figure has increased to 109 while many bodies are still being searched for at the burnt refinery site.
Nnaji said ,” It was more serious than we envisaged. As of this evening, we have counted 109 bodies on the ground while countless others fell into the river and others died inside the refinery.”
The Commissioner for Petroleum Resources in Imo state , Goodluck Opiah, mentioned that the operator of the illegal refinery identified as Okenze Onyenwoke, is currently on the run.