Dozens feared dead in Nigeria as leaking oil tanker explodes.

NIGERIA» An overturned LAGOS, oil tanker exploded in Nigeria while dozens of people were scooping up the leaking fuel, and many were killed.

Hundreds of people have died in similar accidents in recent years in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, as impoverished people risk their lives to collect fuel leaking from pipelines or trucks.

“We have recovered 12 corpses and taken 22 persons with serious burns to hospital,” police spokeswoman Irene Ugbo said. She said the blast occurred Friday evening in Odukpani in the state of Cross River.

But some residents put the death toll closer to 60.

“The police only recovered a few corpses. Many of the other dead were burnt to ashes,” witness Richard Johnson said.

He said about 60 people were inside a pit scooping fuel when the explosion occurred. “It is not likely that anyone inside the pit survived as there was a lot of fuel in the pit,” Johnson said.

He suggested the blast was caused by an electrical generator that had been brought to the scene to help pump out the fuel for people’s containers.

It was not immediately clear what caused the truck to overturn. — Denver Post wire services