Abuja: A gas tanker truck has ignited an inferno at a crowded industrial gas plant in Nigeria, killing more than 100 people lining up to refill their cooking gas cylinders in time for Christmas.

The disaster took place yesterday in Nnewi, a predominantly Christian community in southeast Nigeria. By the time firefighters managed to put out the blaze, an Associated Press reporter counted the charred remains of more than 100 corpses.