Staff with the local emergency management agency work on the site of an oil pipeline explosion in Lagos, Nigeria, Dec. 5, 2019. At least one person was killed Thursday following an oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria's southwestern city of Lagos, an official with the emergency management agency said. The incident sent a wave of panic to locals around the Egbe-Idimu neighborhood, a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city. (Photo by Olatunji Obasa/Xinhua)
LAGOS, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and another injured in an oil pipeline blast in Nigeria's business hub of Lagos on Thursday, the police and rescue officials confirmed.
Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), told Xinhua that the explosion appears to be an accident, and not the work of thieves as in past pipeline explosions near Lagos.
He said security personnel have since been deployed to the area where pipeline explosion occurred.
"Two persons were involved in the incident. Unfortunately one died, while the other survived," he said.
A police officer, who spoke to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said the blast was a result of a fire incident that hit a vandalized pipeline in Baruwa area of the state, causing casualty and damages.
A church owner was said to have lit a candle during a ritual early in the morning to illuminate his surrounding when the fire broke out.
The area, according to the police officer, has been extremely hazardous after they were vandalized by oil thieves.
"We can confirm the death of one person and one other injured," the officer said, adding that it was not an act of vandalism.
Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, head of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters earlier the fire must have been caused by pipeline vandalization.
In July, at least 12 people were killed following a pipeline explosion also in a Lagos suburb.
Oil pipeline vandalization is frequently reported in the west African country. The vandalization is attributed to poverty and a lack of jobs.
