Police: Illegal refinery blast in Nigeria kills at least 12
The HinduAn explosion and fire near an illegal oil refinery site in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region killed at least 12 people Friday, police said, although local residents reported a much higher death toll as the fire raged on for hours. The explosion in Emuoha council area of the southern Rivers state occurred along a pipeline targeted by illegal refinery operators who were trying to steal oil, state police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko said. People in the area told The Associated Press that dozens may have died in the fire that raged for hours and that the victims were mostly young people who planned to siphon oil from a pipeline and to transport to an illegal refinery site in at least five vehicles. Shady business operators often avoid regulators by setting up refineries in remote areas such as the one in Imo, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said last year.
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