105 die as Nigerian pipeline explodes

At least 105 villagers in rural Nigeria died when petrol gushing from a vandalised pipeline exploded as they tried to scavenge the fuel, Red Cross authorities and witnesses said today.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast, which happened late on Thursday on a length of pipe 30 miles north of the city of Umuahia.

Nigeria’s national ThisDay daily newspaper reported witnesses saying it might have been caused by a spark from a motorcycle used by one of the victims.

Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigerian Red Cross, confirmed that 105 people were killed and said more deaths were likely as rescue crews continued to collect bodies and interview survivors, who included an unknown number of people suffering from burns who were languishing in homes and hospitals.

ThisDay put the number of casualties at about 100.

Ndu Ughamadu, spokesman of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, confirmed that the pipeline had been ruptured by “vandals”, adding that it was still unclear how many people had been killed.

Witnesses said villagers had been taking fuel from the pipeline for about six weeks since it was first ruptured by unidentified saboteurs in early May.

The residents said authorities had continued to pump fuel through the line despite being informed of the breakage.

Ughamadu said a team of emergency officials and engineers was on the scene to determine how best to extinguish the blaze, which was apparently still burning late last night.

The pipeline was carrying fuel from a state-owned refinery in the oil city of Port Harcourt to the city of Enugu, 140 miles to the north.

Word of the disaster emerged slowly because many survivors apparently feared prosecution for theft and sabotage, Ijewere said.

ThisDay said witnesses had said police colluded with the vandals by demanding 100 naira – 47p – fees from villagers scooping up buckets and barrels of fuel for resale.

A police officer reached by telephone at the state command in Umuahia refused to comment.

Pipeline vandalism, known as “bunkering” or “scooping”, is common in Nigeria despite the risk of deadly fire, or punishment including prosecution or being shot on sight by security forces.

Thousands of people have been killed in explosions in recent years, including more than 1,000 in a 1998 blast in the Niger Delta town Jesse.

Since then, the Government has tried to educate villagers about the danger of scavenging pipeline fuel.

But poverty and residents’ anger at the Government and oil industry for allegedly polluting the environment and financially neglecting the oil-rich Delta have kept the illegal practice alive.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest petroleum exporter and the fifth-largest source of United States oil imports.