Dozens Burned Alive in Nigerian Pipeline Blast

Dozens of adults and children collecting gasoline from a gushing pipeline were burned alive Thursday when the pooling liquid exploded into flames, witnesses and oil company officials said.

There was no official figure for the number of victims, but witnesses and reporters estimated the death toll at between 30 and 60.

The fire also destroyed shacks in nearby squatter camps at Atlas Cove near the Lagos port of Apapa.

The pipeline, owned by the state Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., carries refined fuel from the port to a depot where it is loaded on trucks and taken to other cities.

A state oil company official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were many dead--people of all ages and both sexes--in the blast and fire, which he blamed on oil thieves.

Company spokesman Ndu Ughamadu said the number killed may never be known because relatives were collecting bodies to avoid prosecution.

The practice of “scooping,” the name for the process of vandalizing and gathering fuel from pipelines, is common among impoverished Nigerians despite the risk of fire or harsh punishment.

Residents said the pipeline began spouting fuel about a week before the blast, causing large pools to form on the ground.

Hundreds of Nigerians have died this year in similar fires.