Hundreds dead in Nigerian pipeline explosion
15 Jan 2000
Nigeria's worst peacetime disaster has seen over 500 people killed when a petrol pipeline in the south of the country exploded. Representatives of the owners of the pipeline, the Pipeline amd Products Marketing Company, have blamed vandals and saboteurs for the explosion.
The pipeline had been ruptured - deliberately, according to PPMC - and an area the size of a football pitch had become flooded with petrol. Many local villagers were scavenging the flooded area for petrol when a stray spark ignited the pool. Many of the dead were women and children.
The oil industry in Nigeria is a target for attack by local opposition groups, which has led to companies in the region declaring force majeure on delivery of up to a third of the country's oil output. Sabotage for theft is also a growing trend, according to a Reuters report. `Some pipelines are vandalised by people who want to siphon fuel to sell, while others are caught in ethnic clashes,' a PPMC official said.
