A blast at an illegal oil refinery site kills at least 15 in Nigeria, residents say
By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Residents say an explosion and fire at at an illegal oil refinery site in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region has killed at least 15 people. They say the blast happened Monday in River state’s Emohua district. Residents said Tuesday that the death toll was likely to grow because many of the bodies were completed burned and dozens of people were injured. Police confirmed the incident but didn’t provide details of what happened. A local environmental activist says most of the people killed were workers refining oil taken from a vandalized pipe. Explosions at locally run refineries are common in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta region.