Authorities say a suspected armed robber is killed when explosives he was transporting accidentally went off in the center of Nigeria's main oil city of Port Harcourt Thursday.
The blast ripped through a minibus carrying at least three suspected robbers, four AK-47 rifles and a large amount of ammunition.
Authorities toured the scene, confirming that the blast was not the work of a suicide bomber but an accident caused by the robbers.
An eyewitness describes what happened.
(SOUNDBITE) (Nigerian English) KINGSLEY CHUKWU, ROAD SAFETY OFFICIAL, SAYING:
"We saw it was a bomb blast...the driver ran away, the conductor died in the blast because bomb lift him up and we can confirm those who planned this bomb."
Port Harcourt is at the heart of Nigeria's two million plus barrel a day oil industry. It has been plagued by militant groups and criminal gangs hoping to cash in on the money it generates.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.
