EXPLOSION IN LAGOS KILLS AT LEAST 15

NIGERIA» An explosion LAGOS, hit Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos early Sunday, killing at least 15 people and sparking search-and-rescue efforts to save people still trapped in collapsed buildings, emergency officials said.

The explosion in the Amuwo Odofin area destroyed more than 50 buildings, which either collapsed or caught fire, in three different neighborhoods, according to Ibrahim Farinloye, the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency.

Fires were spreading to nearby oil pipelines, so there were fears of more damage or explosions. The death toll was expected to rise because residents said some people remained trapped in collapsed buildings.

Nigerian officials were not yet able to identify the cause of the massive explosion. A naval base is located nearby.

Turkey-Russia patrols start amid protests on Syrian highway. ANKARA» Turkish and Russian troops began joint patrols Sunday on a key highway in northwestern Syria, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said, while both the Russian government and Syrian opposition activists said the patrols were shortened because of protests.

Patrols on the highway known as the M4, which runs east-west through Idlib province, are part of a cease-fire agreement between Turkey and Russia signed earlier this month. The cease-fire ended an escalation in fighting that saw the Turkish military in rare direct conflict with Syrian government troops.

For the past three days, residents along rebel-held parts of the M4 have protested in rejection of Russian troops patrolling the road because of Moscow’s strong support to Syrian government forces.

Syrian opposition activists said residents blocked the highway with burning tires near the village of Nairab on the southern edge of Idlib in rejection to patrols by “Russian occupation forces.”

Greece transferring 450 migrants to facility. ATHENS» Greece is transferring 450 migrants recently detained for trying to reach the island of Lesbos illegally to a facility near Athens, authorities said Sunday.

A ship with the migrants landed at a port near Athens and the migrants will be transferred to a facility just north of the capital pending deportation, an official at the Ministry of Migration policy told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter.

All the migrants have been detained since March 1, just days after Turkey said it was opening its borders to the millions of migrants on its soil.