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To: long-gone who wrote (56085)	7/12/2000 7:53:56 AM
From: Rarebird	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116894

AT LEAST 250 DEAD IN OIL PIPELINE EXPLOSION IN NIGERIA Tuesday, July 11, 2000 05:16 PM EDT Lagos, Jul 11, 2000 (EFE via COMTEX) -- An oil pipeline explosion caused the deaths of least 250 people who were apparently stealing gas in southern Nigeria, where a similar incident two years ago resulted in more than 1,000 deaths. Police and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., citing eyewitnesses, confirmed reports of Monday's accident in Adedje, close to the southern port of Warri, in the state of Delta. The explosion occurred when a pipeline was punctured by a group of youths attempting to steal oil from the pipeline. Hundreds of people gathering the oil spouting from the pipeline were enveloped in flames, according to eyewitnesses. Police cordoned off the site of the accident and oil company officials are investigating the damage, which may total in the millions of dollars. The cause of the accident and the number of victims have not been determined, although the scorched remains of some 120 people have been found and a similar number is reported missing by family members, Nigerian Information Minister Jerry Gana said. The Warri region is one of Nigeria's leading crude oil-producing areas and has the country's biggest oil refinery. Many piplines carrying oil destined for northern Nigeria are continually punctured by unemployed local residents who make a living from illegal sales of stolen oil. Close to 1,100 people died in October 1998 near the city of Jesse when a pipeline exploded under similar circumstances. The state-owned oil company reported close to 500 cases of vandalism to their pipelines last year. Although most of the pipeline punctures and consequent fires are caused by people living near the pipelines, vandalism for political reasons is also reported against the state-owned oil company as well as foreign companies. Politically motivated attempts are led by militants who provoke such incidents, including kidnapping oil industry workers, to call attention to the local residents' poor living conditions despite the riches from oil explotation in the country. Southeastern Nigeria is the scene of constant clashes among security forces, ethnic groups who seek more government benefits and oil companies who are drilling on ancestral grounds. Nigeria is one of the world's leading oil producers (in sixth place) but the inhabitants of the oil-producing regions live in total poverty, without drinking water, electricity, paved roads or sewers. EFE efe.es Copyright (c) 2000. Agencia EFE S.A.