In 2018, a similar disaster killed 60 people.
(Reporting by Tife Owolabi; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by
Jason Neely)
EMOHUA, Nigeria, March 3 (Reuters) - A crude oil
pipeline explosion killed at least one person and injured
another on Friday, authorities on the scene said, while members
of the affected community in Emohua said they feared many more
had died in the blast.
Garuba Yabuku, civil defence spokesman for Emohua, in Rivers
State, the heart of Africa's biggest oil industry, said the
incident was reported around 4:30 a.m.
"The pipeline was gutted by fire. We are not sure the number
of casualties but a lady was rescued and body burnt. We are
still on rescue operations," he said at the scene, where the
fire was still blazing from the pipeline next to five burned out
vehicles flanked by a palm forest.
"Many people got burnt inside the fire, males and females.
It could be up to 15 in number," community leader Ogbonna
Francis told Reuters at the scene.
Oil theft and pipeline sabotage are common in the southern
oil production heartland of Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude
producer. The methods used to steal oil often result in
accidents that cause fires.
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