More than 100 are feared dead after gas tanker truck unloading butane cooking gas at a crowded industrial gas plant exploded Thursday in the town of Nnewi in Anambra State, Nigeria.
Locals reported a huge fire following the explosion.
The explosion at the Inter Corp Oil Limited gas plant, a subsidiary of Nigerian conglomerate Chicason Group, reportedly occurred around 11 am local time as residents from the predominantly Christian community lined up to filled gas cylinders before cooking Christmas dinner.
The plant was swallowed in flames and nearby homes damaged.
A witness interviewed by Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper said that the explosion happened when workers began discharging gas from the truck before the mandatory cooling time elapsed.
