Nigeria pipeline explosion kills at least 105 villagers

? Fuel gushing from a vandalized pipeline exploded in southeastern Nigeria, killing at least 105 villagers as they scavenged gasoline, Red Cross authorities and witnesses said Saturday.

It was not immediately clear what touched off the blast late Thursday on a length of pipe 30 miles north of the city of Umuahia. Nigeria’s national ThisDay newspaper cited witnesses as saying it may have been caused by a spark from a motorcycle.

Word of the disaster emerged slowly because many survivors apparently feared prosecution for theft and sabotage, said Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigerian Red Cross.

He said more deaths were likely as rescue crews continued to collect bodies and interview survivors — including an unknown number of wounded and burned in homes and hospitals.

“Most of the bodies are so badly burned they are unidentifiable,” Ijewere told The Associated Press.

Witnesses speaking on condition of anonymity said villagers had been scooping fuel from the pipeline for about six weeks since it was first ruptured by saboteurs in early May. They said authorities had continued to pump fuel through the line despite being informed of the breakage.

The pipeline was carrying fuel from a state-owned refinery in the oil city of Port Harcourt to the city of Enugu, 140 miles to the north.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest petroleum exporter and the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.