Dozens die in Lagos pipeline fire

Dozens of people were killed early Thursday when a ruptured fuel pipeline exploded near Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. Officials of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the fire erupted at a vandalised point on its pipeline. NNPC’s Atlas Cove jetty, used for delivering imported fuel, is located some 500 metres from the scene. The fire damaged the jetty and adjacent depots. A statement by NNPC’s public relations manager, Ndu Uhamadu, said several people died in the blaze. Witnesses said up to 60 people, mostly local fishermen and others from their community, were killed while scooping fuel from the ruptured pipeline. The petroleum corporation’s managing director, Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, assured consumers that the supply of petroleum products in the country would not be disrupted. However, analysts fear lingering problems in distribution in Lagos - Atlas Cove is the NNPC’s largest jetty for discharging products to its depots. Several hundred people have died in Nigeria in the past two years from similar pipeline fires, mainly in the Niger Delta in the southeast, Nigeria’s main oil-producing region. Many of the accidents have been attributed to sabotage.