New Delhi: Over 100 are believed to be killed after an explosion in an illegal oil refinery in southern Nigeria an AFP report said. While the police did say that the explosion took place late on Friday. "The incident happened on the boundary between Rivers and Imo state," Rivers state police spokeswoman Grace Iringe-Koko told AFP, without giving details.
According to the report, local media reports said over 100 people. Fyneface Dumnamene who is the Executive Director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC) said that several bodies were found at the site and some who had tried to escape climbed on trees were seen hanging on tree branches.
According to an AP report, the fire was reported to have spread to nearby properties.
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The fire broke out Friday night and quickly spread to two fuel storage areas at the illegal crude oil refinery, causing the complex to be “engulfed by fire which spread rapidly” within the area, said Declan Emelumba, the Imo State Commissioner for information.
Nigeria is one of the biggest crude oil producers in the continent giving around two million barrels per day. Yet most people in the Niger delta live in poverty.
These pipeline fires are commonplace in Nigeria because of poor pipeline maintenance and also because of thieves who vandalise pipelines to siphon off petrol and sell it on the black market.
Meanwhile, the government has deployed the military to raid and destroy illegal refineries in the Niger delta as part of measures to stop the stealing of the country's oil resources.