December 26, 2006—More than 260 people are dead and over 60 injured after a gasoline pipeline that had been tapped by thieves exploded early this morning in the Abule Egba district of Lagos, Nigeria (see Nigeria map).

Emergency workers were held back from the epicenter of the carnage until the early afternoon by intense heat, melted cars and electrical lines, and crowds of grieving people. Crews battled the blaze for more than 12 hours before getting the flames under control.

Thousands of residents, such as this man washing soot from his face, wandered across the charred landscape searching for missing loved ones.

Although officials say they are not sure what ignited the blaze, locals told the Associated Press (AP) that thieves had originally ruptured the pipeline and had been tapping it for months. On Monday night the thieves left without fully sealing their opening, and people from the neighborhood rushed in with bags and buckets to collect whatever they could from the leaking pipe.

Although Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and the fourth largest exporter of oil to the United States, corruption and poor infrastructure create frequent fuel shortages across the country. Tapping is a relatively common problem, since cans of gasoline sold on the black market can fetch high prices (related photo: "Gas Thief Escapes on Tricycle" [August 16, 2005]).

"How can this be, that people are so poor in Nigeria that they will risk their lives for a little thing," Bode Kuforiji, a university lecturer, told AP. "But boats leave for America every day filled with oil."

—Victoria Gilman

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