Abuja

: A gas tanker truck ignited an inferno at a crowded industrial gas plant in Nigeria, killing scores of people lining up to refill their cooking gas cylinders.

The disaster took place in Nnewi, a predominantly Christian community in southeast Nigeria, as residents were rushing to refill their gas cylinders in time for Christmas.

By the time firefighters managed to put out the blaze, an Associated Press reporter counted the remains of more than 100 corpses.