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At least 200 killed in fire at vandalised pipeline in Nigeria
By Helen Vesperini
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com 12 27 06An explosion and blaze at a vandalised oil pipeline Tuesday in Nigeria's main city Lagos killed at least 200 people, most of whom had been scooping fuel from it, a Red Cross official said.
Scores of charred bodies were lying in the foam and water that firefighters used to fight the blaze in the commercial capital's densely populated northern district of Abule Egba, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
By late afternoon fire fighters had extinguished the blaze but smoke still rose from the site and a pervasive smell of fuel prompted the police to advise all those present to leave.
"We're still looking at a death total of around 200 but with the possibility it might rise beyond that", a Nigerian Red Cross official told AFP.
Casualty figures for those who survived the fire with burns varied wildly, from around 60 to some 300. Red Cross officials said counting the injured was difficult because they had been sent to several different hospitals and clinics.
Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited the scene of the fire on Tuesday afternoon, said he was "saddened at the tragedy" and promised that an investigation would be carried out.
Residents said the pipeline was vandalised by thieves stealing fuel on a large scale. The fire, they said, started later in the morning, some time around 8:00 am (O7OO GMT) when local residents arrived with jerrycans to help themselves to small quantities of fuel.
"They came and tapped the pipeline, filled the tankers with the fuel and went away with them," witness Joe Okah said. "Then people here who were suffering came to fill jerrycans and then there was the explosion."
Around the bodies, some charred to an extent where they were barely recognisable as human, lay burnt out vehicles and charred wooden market stalls.
There was disagreement amongst residents as to whether the fire had been started by an accidental spark or by a disgruntled thief lighting a match.
Bystanders alternately edged forward through the mud to look at the corpses, covering their noses with their shirts because of the smoke, and then surged back, shocked at what they had seen."To die like that for a few thousand naira! The families won't even be able to identify them", rued an elderly man in a blue vest, shaking his head and lamenting that people should be so desperate as to risk their lives to steal a jerrycan full of fuel.
Several local people said they tried to alert both the fire service and the police to the fact that the pipeline had been vandalised and was leaking fuel long before the blaze started but that no help had been sent.
Police at the scene refused to give estimates of the number of dead and injured. A senior Lagos State police officer tried to play down the impact of the blaze, insisting in mid afternoon that the death toll was still only "between 40 and 100".
An oil industry source earlier Tuesday estimated that the number of dead ran into "the hundreds".
The Nigerian Red Cross said the final toll could be higher than expected Tuesday as normally in such cases many injured people "hide for fear of being prosecuted".
A statement from the Nigerian Presidency in early evening referred to "scores" of dead and injured and said President Olusegun Obasanjo was "shocked and saddened" by the report of the vandalisation of the pipeline.
"Obasanjo is particularly saddened that this vandalisation continues despite his warning that the vandalisation of pipelines carrying petroleum products is not only illegal but a dangerous pursuit", the statement said.
In a statement, the Finnish presidency of the European Union expressed "its grief at the loss of life and offers its condolences to the government and people of Nigeria, and to the families, relatives and friends of those who have died."
More than 2,000 people have died in a series of similar tragedies within a decade, mainly in the south of the oil-rich country, where poverty is widespread and fuel can run short though Nigeria is a major petroleum exporter.
Pipeline tapping is frequent in Nigeria, where Lagos and other cities are prone to fuel shortages. Nigeria is Africa's biggest crude producer but heavily reliant on imports for its refined product requirements.
Petrol stations in many Lagos neighbourhoods have been short of fuel for the past week or 10 days, causing bigger than usual traffic jams and fraying tempers as residents try to do their shopping for the festive period and visit family and friends.
AFP 26 2113 GMT 12 06
Copyright© 2001 AFP All Rights Reserved.
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