Nigerian oil vessel with 10 people aboard catches fire

A floating oil vessel with 10 people on board has caught fire following an explosion in southern Nigeria’s Delta region, its operator said on Thursday.

The Shebah Exploration & Production Company said in a statement that “a fire engulfed our offshore facility… following an explosion during the early hours of Wednesday.”

Chief executive Ikemefuna Okafor said that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the accident and that the company was working to “contain the situation.”

“At this time, there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were 10 people onboard the vessel prior to the incident,” Okafor said.

The facility, located at the Ukpokiti Terminal, has processing capacity of 22,000 barrels per day and storage capacity of two million barrels.

Although Nigeria is Africa’s largest crude producer, production costs there are high due to frequent accidents and insecurity. 

Militants have frequently attacked oil installations in the past and Nigerian pirates are active across the wider Gulf of Guinea region.

Coal mine collapse kills 10 people in Afghanistan

At least 10 miners died in Afghanistan after being trapped underground when a coal mine collapsed in the northern province of Baghlan, an official said Thursday.

Thirteen workers were trapped when the mine caved in on Wednesday and only three were rescued alive, said provincial information director Asadullah Hashemi.

There is scant oversight of Afghanistan’s mining industry and deadly accidents are common.

A tribal elder from the area said many experienced miners fled the country when the Taliban took power in August, and their replacements lack training.

In June 2020 seven workers were killed after a gas blast caused a cave-in at a mine in the northern province of Samangan.

A year earlier, at least 30 people died when a gold mine collapsed in Badakhshan province.

Afghanistan also mines talc, iron and marble, but workers often operate in rudimentary pits without proper equipment or safety gear.