CAIRO, Oct 19: The death toll in the blaze that engulfed scores of people scavenging for petrol from a burst pipeline in southern Nigeria, today climbed to 500. Though there was no official confirmation on the deaths, eye-witnesses feared the toll would go up to 600.The fears were heightened by the severe extent of burns on many of the victims after oil flowed from a leak and ignited the pipeline belonging to a state-owned oil concern Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) at the village of Apawor.The victims, mostly women and children, were collecting spilled petrol at the site of a breach in the pipeline when it exploded. The resulting fire devastated an area of some 200 square metres, the reports said adding firemen were fighting to control the blaze.The fire spread to nearby villages and many farmers sleeping in their houses were also burned to death. Witnesses said the fire could have been triggered by the tools used by the vandals.According to reports, Emmanuel Akhihiero, maintenancesuperintendent of PPMC, which feeds petrol from the refinery in Warri through the pipleline to the northern city of Kaduna, has blamed the breach in the pipeline on sabotage, but no one has so far claimed responsibility.Echoing similar feelings, Defence Minister Rodrigo Iloreda said Leftist rebels, who frequently sabotage Colombia's oil pipelines, were suspected.``The chances that it was a terrorist attack are stronger than the chances it was accident,'' he told the Radionet network.There have been several incidents of sabotage in recent weeks on facilities owned by international oil companies in the West African country.Underground organisations who claim to have carried out the attacks are trying to force oil firms to distribute more of their profits to the impoverished people of the oil-rich regions in the country's south.Although the blaze continued today, Akhihiero said it was coming under control. ``We have shut off the pipeline and it is just for the spilled fuel to burn out,'' headded.Meanwhile, military commander Walter Feghabo has ordered a mass burial for bodies charred beyond recognition. ``I just cannot believe this,'' he said.Many witnesses criticised the tardy pace of the rescue operations, saying it took hours before a single ambulance arrived at the scene. Police flagged down passing cars and directed them to take severely injured people to hospitals, they said.
