Local residents rushed to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire, triggering the blast. Cross River state police spokeswoman Irene Ugbo said the blast could have been sparked by the clashing of steel containers used to scoop up the petrol. Petrol tanker and pipeline blasts are common in Nigeria, where despite the country's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas industry, most people live in poverty. In July 2012, at least 104 people were killed and some 50 others wounded as they tried to collect fuel from a petrol tanker after an accident in the southern state of Rivers. In June last year, at least nine people died in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, when a petrol tanker crashed, triggering a wildfire that gutted more than 50 vehicles.

Source: The Nation Bangkok January 12, 2019 10:41 UTC