Explosion from gas has rocked the magnificent Port Harcourt Mall, popularly called Spar, beside Government House, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Five staff of the mall were injured in an explosion and in critical condition at the nearby Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), formerly Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) in the old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt.
The explosion occurred on the first floor of the two-storey edifice, which shares fence with Brick House (Government House), with valuable property worth billions of naira destroyed, before the fire fighters could arrive, while efforts were actually made by in-house fire fighters and other staff of the mall to put out the fire, which followed the loud explosion.
Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), yesterday evening, confirmed the explosion and the number of injured persons, whom he said were receiving treatment in the Rivers government-owned hospital.
The mall, which belongs to the Rivers state government, in partnership with investors, was put in place during the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration, with thousands of persons directly and indirectly employed in the expansive facility.