MINISTERE DE LA COMMUNICATION MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION
# Disaster of 31 May 2019 in SONARA
GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE
The Minister of Communication wishes to inform the National and International public, that on the night of Friday 31 May 2019, at 9:55 pm, an explosion occurred around the Naphta separation zone of the National Refining Company Ltd (SONARA) in Limbe, South West Region.
This led to a fire outbreak which affected some equipment of the atmospheric distillation unit.
To tackle this disaster and contain its devastating effects, Government immediately instructed the local administrative authorities, on the deployment of the core units and all appropriate logistics, to extinguish the said fire.
For the time being, the fire has been contained and the situation has been brought under control, thanks to the prompt joint reaction of the SONARA team, Defense and The National Security Forces, namely the fire-fighters from the City of Douala.
Despite some material damages on the production units, no loss of life has been recorded.
Furthermore, following very high instructions of the Head of State, the Minister of Water and Energy, visited the disaster site in the early hours of Saturday 1 June 2019.
The Global assessment of the situation on the ground and early details in the possession of Government suggest the cause of the fire outbreak is accidental.
Investigations which are being carried out by the security service will help determine the circumstances and the exact causes of this explosion.
Government wishes to assure the population that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure the continuous supply of petroleum products in the national territory, as well as the rehabilitation of the affected production units.
In the same vein, THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, His Excellency PAUL BIYA, has given firm instructions to the Government, to take all
necessary measures aimed at ensuring that this incident does not in any way have a negative impact on the lives of the local population.
The HEAD OF STATE has equally instructed Government to ensure that the on-going extension and modernization project of SONARA continues hitch free.