At least 8 killed in Nigeria oil pipeline blast

In Nigeria, at least 8 people were killed when an oil pipeline exploded in the southeast of the country. Police and a local official said that the death toll could rise.

Rivers State police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said that the accident occurred Saturday during a maintenance work on the pipeline in Oyigbo near the oil



hub Port Harcourt. 

He said that some persons in the area had gone to scoop the spilled product when the explosion occurred. Nigeria is Africa's biggest producer of oil, which accounts for more than two-thirds of government revenue and the bulk of export earnings.