2 Died In TOR Fire
THE TEMA Oil Refinery (TOR) worker whose name was only given as Humphrey, after sustaining serious burns in the fire that gutted the loading rack of TOR, has now been confirmed dead, bringing to two the number of deaths recorded at the Tema oil refining facility.
The deceased was one of three workers who got injured during the fire outbreak, and was said to have actually tried to turn off the valve at the rack in a bid to ensure that the fire did not spread to other parts of TOR when it first started.
He was first rushed to the Tema General Hospital and was later reported to have been transferred to the plastic surgery department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra where, after undergoing plastic surgery, he was admitted at the intensive care unit until his death yesterday morning.
Humphrey's death comes a day after another worker, 60-year-old Thomas Ebo Friar, was found dead on one of the loading racks after fire fighters managed to quench the raging fire that had earlier on engulfed some part of the facility's loading area.
When DAILY GUIDE contacted Aba Lokko, Head of Communications of TOR, to find out if the incident was likely to cause fuel shortage, she explained that TOR had directed Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to pick finished products from the facility's depots in Akosombo, Maame Water and Afram Plains so as to supply to filling stations nationwide while the problem is being resolved.
She said what occurred at the facility would not create any fuel shortage, but admitted it might create some inconvenience to the public, adding that efforts are being made to ensure that the public gets fuel as TOR takes measures to have the problem at the loading rack rectified.
Contrary to expectation, flags at the facility were flying high, with almost all the workers moving about without any red armband to suggest that they were mourning their colleagues who lost their lives in the fire outbreak.
A source at the facility explained that the flags were still flying high because whoever was supposed to make sure they were hoisted halfway might have forgotten to do so.
The source quickly added that most of them were yet to get over the death of their colleagues.
With regard to the red armbands, the source explained that wearing them to either express their displeasure over a situation or to mourn a departed colleague is only done after their union executives have met and a decision is taken on it.
When this paper visited the facility yesterday morning, some men believed to be members of the committee set up to investigate the cause of the fire were seen around the burnt loading rack, perhaps undertaking some visibility test to aid in their work.
The burnt tankers were still in their original location, with the place virtually a pale shadow of what it was before the accident.
The atmosphere at the facility could be described as a dull one, with most of the staff working in a very pensive mood.
Kojo Friar, an elder brother of Ebo Friar, the worker who got trapped when the fire gutted the rack, told this paper in a telephone interview that his family was waiting for top TOR officials who were join them to the Police Hospital in Accra where they were expected to be shown the remains of the deceased.
“We are all shocked and find it hard to believe that Ebo is gone just like that”, he remarked in the telephone interview with this paper.
He said his brother, who left behind a wife and four children, was a resident of Newtown, a suburb of Tema, and was due to go on retirement next month.
In a related development, the two Deputy Ministers of Energy, Dr. Kwadwo Donkor and Hon. Emmanuel Kofi Buah, yesterday assured the nation that TOR has enough fuel to sustain the nation until the problem is resolved.
Addressing a press conference at the office of Dr. Kwame Ampofo, the Managing Director of TOR, the two ministers, on behalf of the President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, expressed regret that the unfortunate incident claimed two lives, with a third person sustaining minor burns.
They explained that the safety and security of TOR is paramount to the nation, hence the ministry's preparedness to ensure that the cause of the fire is investigated.
They added that a seven-member committee will be inaugurated by the ministry to look into the accident and make some recommendations.