Scores are feared dead following an oil pipeline explosion in southeastern Nigeria, officials said Monday, with some putting the toll at more than 70. The explosion occurred on Saturday afternoon while maintenance work was taking place on a pipeline operated by the Pipeline Product Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Leaks had been spotted on the pipeline in the week before the explosion, said Kennedy Azodeh, an official in charge of maintenance operations. Several oil pipeline accidents have occurred in recent years in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer. In October 2018, 30 people died in the explosion of an oil pipeline attacked by looters in southeast Nigeria.

Source: dna June 25, 2019 01:08 UTC