At least 63 families evacuated after Iloilo power barge blast, owner says

The owner of the Power Barge 102 (PB102), which exploded causing an oil spill in Iloilo, said that at least 63 households were displaced due to the fumes that drifted to their area.

In a statement on Saturday, AC Energy said it is closely coordinating with barangay authorities to assess the needs of the affected families.

“Sixty-three households have been displaced from their homes yesterday due to the fumes carried to the area by the winds. They were immediately evacuated to the nearby elementary school,” it said.

AC Energy said that PB102  on Friday afternoon an "accident" involving its fuel tank caused some oil to spill from the confinement area.

“The containment stage was completed last night through the use of multilayered spill booms from PB102, and additional layers from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Petron,” it said.

“This morning (Sunday), additional oil skimmer equipment  arrived from Shell Philippines and another set will be arriving tomorrow from the company’s Power Barge 103,” it added.

According to AC Energy, cleaning operations for the oil spill started on Friday.

Likewise, it said the company and a third party firm are already conducting an investigation into the incident to determine the "root cause" of the explosion that ignited the fuel gases inside the sealed tank.

The probe also aims to avoid similar incidents from happening again, it added.

“We would like to thank the PCG, Iloilo mayor Jerry Treñas,  the officials of the local government of Iloilo  and our host community who are helping us  in the containment efforts,” it said.

“We are committed to exerting all means to clean up the oil spill as soon as possible and support affected communities,” it added.

On Sunday, the PCG said that it will file criminal raps against the owner of the barge  if necessary. —LBG, GMA News