Another pipeline explosion claims lives

At least 30 people are reported to have been killed in a new oil pipeline explosion in southeastern Nigeria a week after a similar fire killed over 200, the BBC reported on Monday. The latest explosion happened on Sunday near the town of Warri, only 10 km from the site of last week’s fire. The fire started on a river where thieves were reportedly using boats to transport fuel stolen from the pipeline. Eyewitnesses described a slick of fire moving across the surface of the river as fuel from the ruptured pipe spread across the water, the BBC said. A state government official was reported by news organisations as saying that at least 30 people had died and that the death toll could be higher. Meanwhile in a statement at the weekend two groups from the Niger Delta, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People and the Niger Delta Professionals for Development, called for the constant supervision of pipelines in the region to avoid further disasters, ‘The Guardian’ reported on Monday. MOSOP spokesman Bari-Ara Kpalap said that it was not enough for government and oil companies to blame vandals for the disasters as they, too, were partly responsible by not repairing faulty pipelines as promptly as they should.