By Elo Edremoda,
Two more yet-to-be-identified corpses have been recovered on the deck of Trinity Spirit Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, which exploded at the Ukpokiti Terminal last Wednesday.
This brings the “potential” number of crew members accounted for to six, including three others rescued alive.
The Management of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited (SEPCOL) (in receivership), disclosed this in a statement by its Chief executive officer, Ikemefuna Okafor, on Monday.
SEPCOL assured that the search for the “four” missing persons has been intensified and efforts geared towards cleaning the environment are underway.
The company condoled with the families of victims of the tragic incident.
“We can confirm today that two further dead bodies were discovered on the deck of the
vessel in the afternoon of the same Sunday.
“We have made incident reports to the police and relevant authorities to assist the ongoing investigation, and due process to establish the identities of the dead bodies is underway.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all the victims of this unfortunate incident, and we are on hand to provide support to them as required.
“Thus far, the potential total number of the crew members accounted for is six, including the three persons who were found alive last week.
“Our priority remains focused on establishing the whereabouts, safety, and security of the four crew members still missing.
“Furthermore, our efforts are geared towards cleaning up the area to minimise any damage to the environment and seeking to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion.
“We thank the following organisations who have been of tremendous assistance since the unfortunate incident happened; Clean Nigeria Associates, Chevron, NOSDRA, NUPRC, SPDC, NIMASA, and the communities, particularly the fishermen who helped with the initial rescue,” parts of the statement read.
SEPCOL appealed to members of the public to steer clear of the area, adding that its “Crisis Management Team will continue to monitor developments in the investigations and
update all stakeholders with new information accordingly”. (The Nation)