ONICHA AMIYI-UHU (Nige-ria), June 21: A Nigerian oil pipeline punctured by thieves exploded, killing more than 105 villagers scavenging for fuel, witnesses said on Saturday.

They said the explosion happened on Thursday in the southeastern community of Onicha Amiyi-Uhu, 50kms north of the Abia state capital, Umuahia.

“Over 100 people died as a result of the incident,” an official said. “Some who escaped with injuries died in their villages.”

Nigeria, an Opec member and the world’s eighth biggest crude oil exporter, is Africa’s biggest oil producer, but it suffers chronic fuel shortages because of technical problems with its four domestic refineries.

The spokesman said the explosion was triggered by a spark from a motorcycle whose rider was transporting petrol from the ruptured pipeline, owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC).

Then NNPC fire crews rushed in from the oil city of Port Harcourt managed to extinguish the fire on Saturday.

Hospital officials in Umuahia said they had been struggling to cope with the flood of burn victims. Three people had died at the city’s Federal Medical Centre and a fourth on the way there.

“Since Thursday night we have been receiving victims of severe burns in our hospital,” the centre’s director, Dr Chinonso Onuoha, told reporters.—Reuters