260 Killed by Pipeline Blast in Nigeria

A ruptured gasoline pipeline burst into flames in Lagos Tuesday, killing 260 people.

Scavengers collected spilling fuel after the oil leak, when the pipeline exploded. At least 260 people died in the explosion in Nigeria's largest city, the Red Cross said.

Scores of bodies could be seen jumbled and fused together in the raging flames at the blast site. Intense heat kept rescue workers back as smoke billowed over the heavily populated Abule Egba neighborhood in Lagos.

"This was a preventable tragedy," said Joel Ogundere, a lawyer whose home was next to the blast. "It was poverty, ignorance and greed."