Residents of Industry and Harbour Road in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State are still in shock after an explosion rocked the state-owned Flour Mills Company Limited.
The explosion which occurred at 10am on Friday was said to have hit buildings and firms in the area.
Though the cause of the explosion at the mills which has been non-functional for over a year could not be ascertained, eyewitnesses described the sound resulting from it as ‘very loud’, saying it immediately resulted in a huge fire.
One of the eyewitnesses told our correspondent that though the factory was not operational, some persons were offloading some unidentified products when the incident happened.
The eyewitness said, “It was 10 minutes after I left the flour mills that the explosion occurred. I don’t know what caused it because we came back to the place but couldn’t get in because it was dangerous.”
Our correspondent also gathered that officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Rivers State Fire Service who responded to a distress call had a hectic time putting out the fire.
When contacted, the state Commissioner for Special Duties, Thomas Bariere, confirmed the incident, saying no casualty was recorded.
“I can tell you with good authority that our men were on the ground. They responded immediately and the fire was put out in good time. So there is no cause for alarm,” Bariere stated
The Flour Mills is surrounded by the Nigerian Ports Authority, Ports and Terminal Operators Limited, the Nigeria Customs Service and other companies.
It was gathered that there were attempts by the immediate past administration in the state to sell the company which is jointly owned by Rivers and Bayelsa states but the deal didn’t go through.
