Ruptured gas pipeline kills hundreds in Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria – A gasoline pipeline ruptured by thieves exploded into a blazing inferno Tuesday as scavengers collected the fuel, killing at least 260 people in the latest oil-industry disaster to strike Africa’s biggest petroleum producer.

Thousands of people in Lagos’ Abule Egba neighborhood surged around rescue workers carrying away charred bodies, hoping to catch a glimpse of missing relatives.

A senior official for the Nigerian Red Cross, Ige Oladimeji, said his workers counted 260 dead by nightfall and took 60 injured people to hospitals. “We are still counting (dead), but there will not be hundreds more,” he said.

Residents said a gang of thieves had been illegally tapping the pipeline for months, carting away gasoline in tankers for resale.

Tapping is common in Nigeria, where many of the 130 million people live in woeful poverty amid widespread graft that makes a handful wealthy in this major oil exporter. A single pilfered can of gasoline sold on the black market can earn two weeks of wages for a poor Nigerian.

Tuesday’s blast, the worst in years, came after thieves opened the conduit during the night but left without fully sealing it. It was unclear what ignited the fuel just after dawn.