Up to 200 people died yesterday when an oil pipeline blew up at a beach village near the Nigerian economic capital Lagos, a policeman at the scene said.
The officer, who asked not to be named, put the death toll at between 150 and 200 "or even more."
The Nigerian Red Cross had earlier reported more than 100 deaths as a result of the explosion at Ilado beach village, near the port of Apapa, where numerous oil installations are located.
"Over 100 people were burnt to death and beyond recognition following the explosion," Nigerian Red Cross Secretary General Abiodun Orebiyi told reporters by telephone.
"We have been unable to recover any injured person. All of them were burnt beyond recognition. We found at the scene of the explosion about 500 jerrycans which we suspect were used to steal fuel from the pipeline," he said.
One correspondent at the scene reported seeing scores of carbonized, disfigured corpses floating on the water and lying under a boat that had been destroyed by the flames. Only the bones remained of some victims.
There were indications several had attempted to flee before the fireball completely engulfed them, the correspondent said.
Orebiyi said the "raging fire" had been put out and normality was returning to Ilado.
He said Red Cross workers at the scene had found evidence that people had been trying to siphon off oil from the pipeline.
"We found that vandals have drilled holes on [into] the pipeline, from where they have been stealing fuel. We advise strongly Nigerians to desist from this dangerous act,"Orebiyi said.
Private TV netowrk Channels said firefighters and oil officials had been sent to Ilado village.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
RSS