An explosion at an illegal oil refinery in Nigeria has killed more than 100 people

Several people were feared burnt to death overnight following an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in southern Nigeria, an NGO said Saturday.

Local media reports said over 100 people had been killed in the blast, the latest in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest producer of crude.

Police said there had been an explosion at the site of an illegal refinery late Friday where operators and their patrons had gathered for business.

Illegal crude refining is common in the southern-oil region where oil thieves vandalise pipelines to steal crude which they refine to sell at the black market.