On Friday 12 May 2006, 150 to 200 people died on the beach of Ilado village in southwestern Nigeria, from a gasoline pipeline explosion.

Rescue workers gathered burned bodies and sprayed disinfectant at the blast site. Bodies were seen floating in water. Anonymous and mass burial was declared urgent by Lagos State Health Commissioner Tola Kasali, to avoid health risk to the capital Lagos, about 50 kilometers west of the village.

This pipeline was run by Nigeria's state oil company and was used to transport gasoline across the country for national consumption. Nigeria exports a little over 2 million barrels of crude oil every single day, but needs to import refined fuel. As a consequence, there are numerous pipelines across the country. They generally go from the refinery to the major cities.

Almost 2,000 people have died in similar incidents in Nigeria in recent years.

NIGERIA PIPELINE DISASTERS
Dec 2004: At least 20 killed in Lagos
Sept 2004: At least 60 killed in Lagos
June 2003: At least 105 killed in Abia State
Jul 2000: At least 300 killed in Warri
Mar 2000: At least 50 killed in Abia State
Oct 1998: At least 1,000 killed in Jesse
Source: BBC Website

International Guidance

• UNEP TransAPELL handbook
  
  
• International and National Guidelines, Acts and Regulations

The UNEP TransAPELL handbook

TransAPELL takes APELL guidance beyond the risks associated with fixed facilities to include those arising from the shipping, distribution and transport of dangerous goods. Planning for risks arising from the transport of dangerous goods is just as necessary as for fixed facilities but even more complex, for the following reasons:

• Transport routes - the "risk objects" in this context - normally have a considerable geographical extension. As an emergency can occur anywhere along the route, emergency planning must be very flexible.
  
  
• For historical or practical reasons, many routes pass through densely populated areas, along river valleys or along the shores of inland lakes, etc. There may, therefore, be many threatened objects (people, property, the natural environment) in the vicinity of possible accident locations.
  
  
• Hazard identification is more complex. Many hazardous materials are transported several times during their product lives. This means that, in most cases, planning has to cover a greater variety of hazardous materials than is the case for a fixed facility. When a transport emergency arises, there may well be delay in ascertaining what substances are involved.
  
  
• The number of stakeholders is generally greater than for fixed installations. Transport industries, particularly the road haulage industry, typically involve a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many of these or other stakeholders may not have offices or other rep-resentation in communities concerned.
  
  
• An accident involving dangerous goods may happen in transit through a community that does not have any fixed chemical installations. Its emergency services are, therefore, unlikely to be equipped or trained to tackle emergencies involving unfamiliar and possibly unidentified chemicals.
  
  
• The population at large is likely to be more ignorant of the hazards and of how to act in an emergency. Nearby residents, people in private cars or passengers in halted trains could all be affected. It will be more difficult to produce and disseminate adequate public information.

The guidance in this Report is applicable to all land transport of dangerous goods by road, rail and pipeline, as well as to the handling of such goods at interfaces with other modes of transport, e.g. ports and airports. The guidance is intended to supplement the provisions of national and international law and regulations, not to replace or interfere with them.

International Guidelines, Acts and Regulations

UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.
Model Regulations

The United Nations Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods provide a basis for development of harmonized regulations for all modes of transport, in order to facilitate trade and the safe, efficient transport of hazardous materials. The UN Model Regulations is in its 13th edition and is the basis for most international, regional, national and modal transportation regulations. The UN Model Regulations enhance safety, improve enforcement capability, ease training requirements and enhance global trade and economic development. Safety is enhanced primarily because harmonized requirements simplify the complexity of the regulations, simplify training efforts, and decrease the likelihood of non-compliance. The Model Regulations provide economic benefits by eliminating the costs of complying with a multitude of differing national, regional and modal regulations. The UN Model Regulations facilitate compatibility between modal requirements so that a consignment may be transported by more than one mode without intermediate reclassification, marking, labeling or repackaging.

Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail - COTIF

The transport of passengers and goods by rail is subject to the provisions of the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail of 9 May 1990 (COTIF). This Convention has two Appendices, one dealing with the carriage of passengers (CIV Uniform Rules) and the other dealing with the carriage of goods (CIM Uniform Rules).

The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety

The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, which is within the United States Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration, is responsible for coordinating a national safety program for the transportation of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway and water, where comprehensive guidance on the subject can be found.

Links and Sources

Relief web, part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
AFP
BBC News
CNN News
UNEP Chemicals Programme
OECD Chemical Safety Department
Transport Canada