Fire at Buchanan port Leave one severely injured

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It was a scene of panic and chaos this afternoon when fire erupted at a section of the port of Buchanan in Grand Bassa County leaving a boat burned and one person seriously injured. The fire allegedly broke out at the commercial port  by 4:55PM on Sunday , October 15, after the captain of the boat allegedly tried servicing his boat that had drums of fuel oil.  Eyewitnesses said , the captain of the burnt boat allegedly missed some steps in his technical room something that allegedly led to the fire. Firefighters and Authories at the port including firefighters from ArcelorMittal Liberia jointly managed to quench the fire that blazed for hours. According to reports, the victim, Stephen Mensah was the Chief Engineer for the commercial boat that burned to ashes. Stephen Mensah got severely burned from head to his legs but was rushed to the Liberian Government Hospital for treatment.  However, the main facilities of the Port were not affected by the fire outbreak as the joint intervention from the Port’s Fire team, ArcelorMittal’s fire team and the Liberian National Fire Service helped save the Port’s main facility. Authorities of the Port of Buchanan have made no official statement on the fire outbreak. The Port of Buchanan was constructed by the Liberia-American Swedish Mining Corporation (LAMCO) in the 1960s, a joint venture company established to export the iron ore deposits from the Nimba Range. It is located 272 kilometer south-east of Monrovia and is the second largest port. The harbor is protected by two breakwaters 1,890m and 590m long. Inside the basin, a 225 meters long ore loading quay is located adjacent to the commercial loading quay, providing a water depth of 10.5m below chart datum. Adjacent to the loading quay another waiting berth for ore carriers is available. On the inner side of the secondary breakwater, is a commercial quay, 334m long with available water depth of 9.5m below chart datum. The access channel to the Port provides ships a water depth 11.5m below chart datum and a channel width between the breakwaters of 210m.

By:  Elton Wroinbee Tiah/ Ablee-Jay TV

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