The death toll of Sunday’s explosion at Linc Oil and Gas Depot, a tank farm in Calabar, Cross River State owned by Senator Andy Uba, has risen from 9 to 11, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
According to the news agency, nine survivors were admitted to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCHT) after the explosion on Sunday. Two of those patients died on Monday morning.
Senator Andy Uba (Anambra South) Guardian NG The chief medical director of the UCHT, Thomas Agan, said the hospital needs assistance from the federal government in order to adequately treat the remaining patients, who suffer from severe burns.
“We had to use all we had to ensure that they are kept alive. Our consumables are now exhausted,” he told NAN.
“We need massive assistance, not only from the federal government, but from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and all the facilities involved in the matter.”
At the time of publication, the direct cause of the explosion had not been ascertained. Cross River State Commissioner for Petroleum Itaya Nyong told NAN that the commission would conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
SaharaReporters revealed on Sunday that the tank farm is owned by Senator Andy Uba of Anambra State. The senator, a who served as an aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, stated on his assets declaration that he owns “Linc Nigeria Limited,” which he described as an “oil tank farm” in Calabar, Cross River State.