At least 18 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in southeastern Nigeria, and about 25 were injured, a security official said in a statement on Tuesday.
The explosion occurred Sunday night in Rivers State, a region of the Niger River Delta devastated for decades by vandalism and illegal oil exploration.
“The fire broke out very late and 18 people were burnt to death beyond recognition, while 25 injured people were treated,” said Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) spokesperson in Rivers State, Olufemi Ayodele.
“Most of the victims were young people, including a pregnant woman and a young woman preparing for her wedding ceremony next month,” he added.
The death toll could rise, as local residents said there were dozens of people at the scene at the time of the explosion.
Armed groups, as well as locals, regularly divert crude oil from pipelines owned by major oil companies, which they then refine in illegal locations and sell on the black market.
The worst pipeline explosion in Nigeria occurred in October 1998 in the southern town of Jesse, killing more than 1,000 residents.
In 2022, more than 110 people died in an explosion at a refinery in the same region.
Despite the country’s wealth in hydrocarbons, the majority of its inhabitants live in extreme poverty and periodically accuse large oil companies of having contributed to the pollution of their region without participating in its development.
Decades of oil spills have devastated entire towns, where fishing and agriculture were the main source of local income.
Source: TSF
