A pipeline explosion killed up to 200 people on the outskirts of Nigeria's biggest city Lagos on Friday, police said.

The Red Cross said the pipeline blew up while vandals were tapping into it to steal petrol, igniting about 500 nearby jerrycans full of fuel. Theft of fuel or crude oil from pipelines is common in Nigeria.

Hat tip: Leanan.

Update [2006-5-12 11:49:31 by Super G]: MEND denies involvement.

[editor's note, by Prof. Goose] Also, we should bring back Dave's (really great) post on Nigeria, which you can find here; I would also direct you to John Robb's piece here. Both are pretty prescient.