AT LEAST 100 people are suspected to have died in an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in south-east Nigeria, officials have said.

The search for bodies intensified at the site today as authorities looked for two people suspected of being involved in the blast.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari called the explosion a “catastrophe and a national disaster.”

The explosion Friday night at the facility in Ohaji-Egbema local government area in Imo state was triggered by a fire at two fuel storage areas where more than 100 people worked.

Dozens of workers were caught up in the explosion while many others attempted to escape the blaze by running into wooded areas, but died from burns.

Mr Buhari has directed the nation’s security forces “to intensify the clampdown” on such facilities being operated illegally in many parts of southern Nigeria.

Although Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of crude oil, for many years its oil production capacity has been limited by the technical challenges of oil storage and the operation of illegal refineries.

A mass burial is being planned for those killed in the explosion, many of who “were burnt beyond recognition,” according to an official.

Such disasters are a regular occurrence in the African country, where poverty and unemployment, calculated at 33 per cent, have forced millions of young people into criminal activities.

Operating illegal refineries is not as popular in Imo state as it is in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, where militants have gained notoriety for blowing up oil pipelines and kidnapping workers from petroleum companies.

As many as 30 illegal oil refineries were busted in the Niger Delta region in just two weeks, Nigeria’s Defence Department said earlier this month when it announced a task force to curb crude oil theft.