Reuters) – More than 500 bodies, most burnt beyond recognition, were lying at the scene of a fuel pipeline explosion in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, a Reuters witness said on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people went to scoop fuel from the pipeline after thieves punctured it overnight at Abule Egba, a heavily populated area, said Red Cross Secretary General Abiodun Orebiyi.
Reuters photographer Akintunde Akinleye said he counted more than 500 bodies, possibly up to 700, burnt beyond recognition.
Oremiyi said there was no official estimate of the death toll, but said the 700 figure could be right.
Another Red Cross volunteer at the scene said: “A lot of people have been roasted. They are littered on the ground.”
“It is a densely populated area. We are talking hundreds (dead). Sixty have been evacuated to hospital, badly burned. We are yet to confirm the death toll so we don’t know if it is 300, 400 or 500,” Red Cross secretary-general Abiodun Orebiyi said.