The explosion occurred Monday in Emohua district, Rivers State, Nigeria. Residents warned that the death toll would likely rise further, as many bodies were left completely charred and dozens more were injured.
Most of those who died worked at the illegal refinery in Rumucholu village. Details are expected through Nigerian police. Workers are reportedly refining oil from a wrecked pipeline.
“When they discover the place where they destroyed the pipe, they go to the place where they were cooking. That’s how the fire stands were set there,” said a local activist.
A pregnant woman was among the 15 victims found dead, according to a statement released through the Youth and Environmental Advocacy Center, a local environmental advocacy group. Explosions at such refineries are not unusual in Nigeria.
The Niger Delta region is a deficient but oil-rich region, providing most of Nigeria’s wealth. However, most of Nigeria’s oil facilities are subject to chronic oil theft, causing the country to lose its prestige as Africa’s largest crude producer to Angola and sliding into the ranks of Africa’s top oil-producing countries.
From April to September last year, more than a hundred suspected oil thieves were arrested and the government seized oil assets worth 30 billion naira ($70 million). 2021 and February 2022, Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said last year.
To add to the concern, operators are installing illegal refineries in remote spaces to avoid regulators. Workers in those shaded facilities fail to meet protection standards, resulting in frequent fires and explosions. However, operators make a lot of money from those refineries.
In April last year, at least another hundred people were killed in an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in Imo state, triggered by a chimney in two areas of fuel garages. Dozens of employees were caught in the blast as many others tried to escape the chimney by running into wooded areas.
In February this year, another 12 people were killed in an explosion at a refinery in the Niger Delta region.
(with AP inputs)
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