Scores Feared Dead In Lagos Midnight Pipeline Explosion.

      

Scores of people were feared dead in a midnight explosion at one of the pipelines belonging to the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation at Takwa Bay Beach, Lagos.
An oil spillage was said to have occurred at the area and majority of the residents who had gone to the scene to scoop fuel when the explosion occurred were killed. It was not clear what caused the explosion, but it was attributed to greed on the part of vandals who drilled holes on exposed pipeline to scoop fuel. Some of the villagers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the vandals came to the area in canoes laden with several hundreds of 50 liter Jerry cans.
Rescue workers were yet to recover anybody at the sight of the explosion. Spokesman of the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the incident, said relations of victims may have carried away bodies of the deceased persons for fear that
government agencies might use it to track down the location of the vandals.
Farinloye said suspected vandals punctured the pipeline at Takwa Bay area, adding that the pipeline
takes petroleum products from Atlas Cove at Apapa, to Ejigbo and Mosimi depots in Lagos and Ogun
States respectively.