Blast at Shell’s Nigeria oil pipeline kills 12: Police

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An explosion on a Nigerian oil pipeline owned by Shell killed at least 12 people on Friday, authorities at the scene said, while members of the affected community in Emohua said they feared many more had died in the blast.

A spokesperson for Shell Petroleum Development (SPD) company of Nigeria Limited said a fire occurred on its Rumuekpe-Nkpoku Trunk Line in Rivers State and that it was working with authorities to put it out.

Garuba Yabuku, civil defence spokesman for Emohua, in Rivers State, the heart of Africa’s biggest oil industry, said the incident was reported around 4:30am.

The fire was blazing from the pipeline next to five burned out vehicles flanked by a palm forest.

SPD said an investigation by a government-led joint team would commence to find the cause of the incident.

Oil theft and pipeline sabotage are common in the southern oil production heartland of Nigeria. The methods used to steal oil often result in accidents that cause fires.

In April last year, a similar disaster killed 100 people.