| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Nigeria pipeline blast kills at least 100 |
| 2008-05-16 |
| At least 100 people were killed and scores injured when fuel from a pipeline ruptured by a bulldozer exploded in the Ijegun suburbs of Lagos, the Red Cross said on Thursday. The fireball engulfed homes and schools in the vicinity, and many, including schoolchildren were killed in the ensuing stampede as people fled the fire. “About 100 people have so far been confirmed dead from the fire. We have so far rescued more than 20 people with injuries and taken them to hospital for treatment,” a Red Cross official at the scene told Reuters. Nigeria is one of the world’s major oil producers and pipelines cut through many residential areas such as Lagos. Explosions and fires with high fatalities are frequent. Vandalism: Vandals who drilled holes in the feeder lines to steal petrol to sell on the black market have caused several pipeline blasts in the past. Nigeria is the eighth largest oil exporter, though most Nigerians live on less than $2 per day and many are prepared to take huge risks to obtain free fuel. At least 45 people were burnt to death last December in another village on the outskirts of Lagos, when fuel they were stealing from a buried pipeline went up in flames. In 2006, 400 people were killed in twin blasts in Lagos. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 I have to admit, were a gasoline pipeline to pass anywhere near me, it just might be dry from all the taps. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-05-16 14:17 |