Nigerian Pipeline Blast Kills 200

A massive explosion at a ruptured oil pipeline ignited a spreading fire that killed at least 200 people Friday.

Triggered by a spark too close to a gushing stream of gasoline, the blast occurred near Ilado, a village 30 miles east of Lagos. Many of the victims apparently were villagers scavenging for fuel who tried to flee when flames spread across a gasoline slick and overtook them.

After the blast, charred, unrecognizable bodies and piles of white ash lay scattered on the ground beside dozens of discarded plastic cans used to carry gas, while black smoke choked the air, officials at the scene said.

Rescue workers buried scores of bodies in a mass grave in Ilado, saying doing so was necessary to reduce the risk of contaminating the water supply.

In this oil-rich nation of mostly poor people, theft of gasoline and crude oil is common, as are deadly explosions. About 50 people died in a blast in Ilado last year. In 1998, an even larger explosion in the town of Jesse killed more than 700.

State officials at the scene in Ilado seemed stunned by the scale of the destruction and struggled to quantify it.

“You can see the corpses. Some are burned to ash. Others are remnants,” said Police Commissioner Emmanuel Adebayo, who estimated that at least 200 died. A Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. official put the death toll at 300.

Health Commissioner Tola Kasali, surveying the wreckage in Ilado, expressed resignation.

“Because this thing has happened many times before, we thought it would be a deterrent, but apparently it wasn’t enough deterrent for these people who died,” Kasali said. “Anywhere you have a pipeline in this country, you have this problem because people are greedy and they want quick money.”

Nigeria is one of the world’s largest oil producers, normally pumping 2.5 million barrels of crude each day, and is the fifth-largest supplier to the U.S. Yet Nigeria is so riddled with corruption, political instability and crime that oil production benefits Nigerians unevenly, causing widespread bitterness.

The nation’s oil production has repeatedly been affected by attacks on pipelines and oil workers, frequently reducing output and contributing to rising international oil prices.

In parts of Nigeria, oil theft is highly organized, controlled by militias that pipe oil directly onto barges for export. In other places, the theft is sporadic and uncontrolled as villagers siphon oil into cans to use for cooking or to sell on the black market.

In the Niger Delta, where most of the oil is found, militant groups sometimes justify the theft by claiming that oil should belong to poor communities that rarely see any of its profit.

In recent months, militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers to press their demands. On Friday, three foreign oil workers were released a day after they were snatched from a bus as they headed to jobs in Port Harcourt.

An FBI official in Washington told the Associated Press that the bureau was taking part in an investigation of the case, as it often does when Americans are involved or when requested by the host country.

Special correspondent Hakeem reported from Lagos and Times staff writer Dixon from Cape Town, South Africa.