By George Esiri
IJEGUN, Nigeria (Reuters) - At least 100 people were killedand scores injured when fuel from a pipeline ruptured by abulldozer caught fire and exploded on Thursday in a villagenear Nigeria's biggest city of Lagos, the Red Cross said.
The fireball engulfed homes and schools at Ijegun villagein the Lagos district of Alimosho, and many of the dead, whoincluded schoolchildren, were killed in the ensuing stampede aspeople fled in panic from the flames.
"About 100 people have so far been confirmed dead from thefire. We have so far rescued more than 20 people with injuriesand taken them to hospital for treatment," a Red Cross officialat the scene told Reuters.
The disaster was the latest in a series of pipelineexplosions or blazes caused by damage or theft which havekilled more than 1,200 people since 2000 in Nigeria, theworld's eighth largest oil exporter and Africa's top producer.
The pipeline rupture at Ijegun, a village about 50 km (30miles) from the centre of the sprawling coastal city of Lagos,occurred during work to build a road. A bulldozer moving earthstruck the pipeline buried beneath the surface.
"I was returning home when I suddenly saw sparks of firefrom where the grader (earthmover) was working," local residentJohn Egbowon said.
The fuel leaking from the broken pipe caught fire andexploded, sending people fleeing in panic.
"HELL RAINING DOWN"
"It was like hell was raining down on us, then everybodystarted running in different directions," Egbowon said.
At least 15 homes were burned. More than 20 charredvehicles caught in the fire were visible afterwards in thestreet, as firefighters and volunteers tried to douse theflames with sand and water after the explosion.
Witnesses said that even after the main explosion, theground around the fire was so hot that shoes melted.
Abandoned in panic, discarded school bags and sandalslittered the compound of one school whose pupils had fled. Agroup of women wailed in grief nearby.
A network of oil and fuel pipelines criss-crosses parts ofNigeria and explosions and fires that kill many are frequent.
In the creeks of the Niger Delta, the country's main oilproducing zone, the pipelines are also the target of sabotageattacks by local militants seeking greater control over oilrevenues and more development for their impoverished region.
Previous accidental pipeline blasts in Nigeria have beencaused by vandals who drilled holes in the feeder lines, usedto distribute mainly imported fuel, in order to steal petrolfor sale on the black market.
Despite the country's oil wealth, most Nigerians live onless than $2 (1.03 pounds) per day and many are prepared totake huge risks to obtain free fuel.
At least 45 people were burnt to death last December inanother village on the outskirts of Lagos when fuel they werestealing from a buried pipeline went up in flames.
One year earlier, 250 people were killed in anotherpipeline fire in a different area of Lagos.
In such situations, a small number of organised thievesusually drill a hole in a pipeline, but as word spreads otherscome and try to steal the fuel and fire often breaks out.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Additionalreporting by Tume Ahemba; Writing by Pascal Fletcher)
