Reuters

Nigeria pipeline fireball kills 100

Updated 10.43 Fri May 16 2008

Children were among the 100 people killed when a bulldozer ruptured an oil pipeline in Nigeria.

Scores more were injured in the fireball as fuel caught fire in the village of Ijegun, about 30 miles from Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city.

Many of the dead were killed in a stampede as people fled in panic from the flames

The bulldozer had been moving earth when it struck the pipeline buried beneath the surface.

The blast engulfed a school, about 15 homes and more than 20 cars. Many of the dead were killed in a stampede as people fled in panic from the flames.

The disaster is the latest in a series of pipeline explosions or blazes in Nigeria caused by damage or theft, which have left more than 1,200 people dead since 2000.

The pipelines are also the target of sabotage attacks by local militants seeking greater control over oil revenues and development for their impoverished region.

Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter and Africa's top producer.

But despite the country's oil wealth, most Nigerians live on less than £1 per day and many are prepared to take huge risks to obtain free fuel.