An explosion at an illegal oil refinery in southeastern Nigeria killed at least 18 people, including a pregnant woman, a security official said in a statement on Tuesday.
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The explosion occurred late Sunday in Rivers State, a region of the Niger Delta devastated by decades of vandalism and illegal hydrocarbon exploitation.
“The fire broke out at a very late hour and 18 people suffered fatal burns beyond recognition while 25 injured were being treated,” said the spokesperson of the Nigeria Defense Corps and Civil Security (NSCDC), 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.
According to residents of the district contacted by AFP, the number of victims could rise as dozens of people were at the site at the time of the explosion.
Armed groups, as well as local residents, regularly siphon crude oil from the pipelines of large oil companies, which they then refine at illegal locations and resell 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, a refinery explosion in the same region killed more than 110 people.
Despite the country’s immense wealth in hydrocarbons, most residents live in great poverty and regularly accuse the large oil companies of having contributed to the pollution of their region without taking part in its development.
Decades of oil spills have destroyed mangroves and entire villages where fishing and agriculture were once the region’s main source of income.