COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With the inferno still burning, a single fire truck works in vain, while bulldozers dig mass graves for the hundreds believed dead, burned beyond recognition. Officials who toured the sight, blamed the fire on sabotage. They believe the fuel pipelines were vandalized, probably by thieves trying to steal fuel. The victims, many of them children, were ordinary villagers. They had also come to the site with their cans and buckets to gather fuel and the sheer number of bodies shows how common a practice it has become in Nigeria. It's Africa's biggest oil producer, but petrol is a precious commodity. Because some refineries are so poorly maintained, they can't meet demand. Nigeria's military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, tells journalists the government is not to blame. He says the government has no plans to compensate the families of those who died, but he says help may be provided for survivors. The wounded are being treated for their burns in local hospitals over-stretched by the number of casualties coming in. The state-owned pipelines and products marketing company has shut off the fuel supply to the pipeline. But there is still so much fuel remaining inside, officials say, it may take days to burn off. Colleen McEdwards, CNN.
CNN 20: Pipeline Explosion in Nigeria, October 17, 1998