Not less than 37 persons suspected of oil theft, mostly youths, have died after inhaling petroleum fumes at Okari Jetty in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, has thrown the area into mourning, even several others are said to be missing after the incident.
It was gathered that the victims had discovered an illegally tapped point on a pipeline in the area and were attempting to load the deadly substance into a vessel when tragedy struck.
Youths from Okrika and neighbouring communities, numbering over a hundred, are said to have stormed the jetty in locally made boats to load the product from the illegal tapping point.
A community source said that as the people were loading the liquid into the boats, a strong smell had filled the area, which caused several of the youths to collapse.
