Dozens dead, including pregnant woman, after blast at illegal oil refinery in Nigeria

An explosion and fire at an illegal oil refinery site in Nigeria has killed at least 30 people, including a pregnant woman, a local community leader said.

Illegal oil refining is common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country as impoverished locals tap pipelines to make fuel to sell for a profit.

The practice, which can be as basic as boiling crude oil in drums to extract fuel, is often deadly.

The blast happened on Monday with residents saying the death toll will grow as they dig through the charred remains of people caught in the blast.

Rufus Welekem, the head of security in the community said: "Thirty-five people were caught in the fire. Two people who were lucky to escape also died this morning in hospital."

Police confirmed the incident but did not provide details of what happened.

Locals said most of the people who died had worked at the illegal refinery in the village of Rumucholu.

The workers at the site were refining oil taken from a vandalised pipe, according to Chima Avadi, a local activist.

"When they scoop from the point where they vandalised the pipe, they will take to where they were cooking. That is how fire got there," Avadi said.

Shady operators often avoid regulators by setting up refineries in remote areas.

The workers at such facilities rarely adhere to safety standards, leading to frequent fires, including one in Imo state last year that killed more than 100 people were killed.

"The money they make from there in one or two days is more than what a civil servant can make in a year," Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre Executive Director Fyneface Dumnamene said.

His group has been advocating for environmental reforms and an end to the illegal activities.

But amid growing economic hardship in Nigeria, "people are looking for opportunities to make ends meet," Dumnamene said.

Nigeria lost at least $3 billion (£2.5bn) worth of crude oil to theft between January 2021 and February 2022, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said last year.

Nigeria has for years tried to clamp down on illegal crude refineries, with little success, in part because powerfully connected politicians and security officials are involved, local environmental groups say.

Crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and legal battles over oil spills are pushing oil majors operating in Nigeria to sell their onshore and shallow water assets to concentrate on deepwater operations.

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