Some suspected oil thieves were burnt beyond recognition yesterday in Lagos while trying to scoop fuel from a vandalised pipeline at Ije-Ododo, near Ijegun in Iba Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
The inferno, according to an eyewitness, broke out around 9pm when about 30 people arrived at the scene of the incident to scoop fuel into hundreds of 50 kg jerry cans from a leaking pipeline.
According to him, minutes after their arrival, there was an explosion accompanied by a tagging inferno, consuming those scooping the fuel and their equipment.
It was learnt that, men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) officials were at the scene to assess the situation.
The NSCDC leader, who simply gave his name as Mr. Shem Obafaiye, said they were facing serious challenges to put out the fire.
An NNPC official said: “You can see that the fire is still raging. We can’t go far to examine the damaged pipeline or know the number of people killed because the pipeline is buried under water.”
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