(Adds NNPC statement)
LAGOS, March 15 (Reuters) - An explosion at a gas processing
plant on Sunday killed at least 15 people and destroyed about 50
buildings after a fire broke out in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria's
commercial capital, emergency services said.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the
explosion was triggered after a truck hit some gas cylinders
stacked in a gas processing plant near the corporation's
pipeline in Abule Ado area of Lagos state.
The impact of the explosion led to the collapse of nearby
houses, damaged NNPC's pipeline and caused the corporation to
halt pumping operations on the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline, the
state-owned oil company said in a statement.
Several people were injured and taken to hospital, according
to Ibrahim Farinloye, zonal coordinator for the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Plumes of smoke billowed into the air as people watched,
while firefighters tried to quench the flames, a Reuters witness
said.
Farinloye told Reuters that "the explosion destroyed over 50
residential houses."
Pipeline fires in Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude oil
producer, are common and they are mostly caused by theft and
sabotage. The methods used to steal oil often result in
accidents that cause fires.
"The fire started with smoke," one eyewitness said. "The
smoke was coming up and later we heard a sound ... and some
houses collapsed even the roofs."
NNPC said that the temporary shutdown of the petroleum
products pipeline would not affect the normal supply of products
to the Lagos and surrounding towns.