100 Nigerians killed in pipeline blaze

Machinery pierces pipe carrying refined fuel, blast strikes village, school

updated 1:36 p.m. ET May 15, 2008

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria - Red Cross officials said about 100 Nigerians are dead in a pipeline fire.

Road construction machinery on Thursday pierced a pipe carrying refined fuel through a village on the outskirts of the main city of Lagos, said Suleman Maikubi, a disaster coordinator.

He said flames from the blaze spread through nearby homes and a school, Maikubi said

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About 100 people were killed and 20 were injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, Maikubi said.

Pipeline tragedies
More than 1,000 people in Nigeria have died in recent years when fuel they were pilfering from pipelines caught fire.

Nigeria, which normally pumps 2.5 million barrels of crude a day, is Africa’s largest producer and the fifth-largest source of imports to the United States. Most of Nigeria’s oil is pumped in the southern Niger Delta region, far from Lagos.