The death toll in the weekend pipeline explosion and fire that tore through this southern Nigerian town has reached 700, state radio said Wednesday.
The Lagos-based newspaper the Daily Express also said at least 700 people died, quoting police who said there were about 200 deaths since the pipeline exploded Saturday while scavengers tried to scoop up gasoline.At least 400 people have been buried in mass graves near the scene of the explosion in this town 180 miles southeast of Lagos, authorities said.
Hospitals, most with few doctors and nurses and little medicine, were overwhelmed by burn victims.
"Every home in this town of Jesse has lost either a friend, a son, a daughter, a brother, a mother or a father," said Jacob Emogho, a Jesse resident. "No home has been left untouched."