Several Nigerians killed in Lagos oil pipeline fire

LAGOS (Reuters) - Several people were burnt to death and scores injured when fuel from a pipeline ruptured by an earthmover building a road on the outskirts of Lagos caught fire, the Red Cross said on Thursday.

The Red Cross said a number of homes and schools were also engulfed by the flames that raged through Ijegun village in the Lagos district of Alimosho.

"We have rescued some people and taken them to hospital and there have also been some deaths but I can't give any numbers for now because our volunteers are still on rescue operation," one Red Cross official told Reuters.

Fuel pipelines criss-crossing Africa's most populous country are operated by the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. Fire fighters were still struggling to extinguish the Ijegun fire on Thursday.

Previous pipeline explosions in Africa's top oil-producing nation have been caused by vandals who drilled holes in the feeder lines, used to distribute mainly imported fuel across Nigeria, in order to steal petrol for sale on the black market.

Nigeria is the world's number eight oil exporter, but most Nigerians live on less than $2 per day and many are prepared to take huge risks to obtain free fuel.

At least 45 people were burnt to death last December in another village on the outskirts of Lagos when fuel they were stealing from a buried pipeline went up in flames.

One year earlier, 250 people were killed in another pipeline fire in a different area of Lagos.

In such situations, a small number of organized thieves usually drilled a hole in a pipeline, but as word spreads others come and try to steal the fuel and a fire is often ignited.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/)

(Reporting by Tume Ahemba; Editing by Giles Elgood)