THE death toll from the explosion of a fuel pipeline in southern Nigeria this week has risen to 28. The newspaper The Vanguard said on Friday that those who died were believed to have been siphoning off fuel from the duct operated by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) when the pipeline exploded into flames at Okuedjeba, near Warri, on Wednesday the paper said. Initial reports on Thursday put the death toll at 17. In 1998, more than 700 people were killed while siphoning off fuel from a fuel pipeline at Atiworo, near Jesse, in Delta state.