At least 34 people died in Benin near Nigeria's border on Saturday when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames, leaving dozens of charred bodies at the site, a government official and residents said.

The blaze erupted at a warehouse for smuggled fuel in the southern Benin town of Seme Podji, where cars, motorbikes and tricycle taxis came to stock up on fuel, according to local residents.

Nigeria is a major oil producer and fuel smuggling is common inside the country and along its borders, with illegal refineries, fuel dumps and pipelines sometimes causing fires.

In Taiwan, a fire at a golf ball factory killed at least six people, three of them firefighters who died in an explosion, authorities said Saturday.

The fire, which began Friday evening and raged all night, injured more than 100 people, most of them workers, the Pingtung county government told local media.

One firefighter and three other people are missing.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen visited the scene on Saturday morning and expressed condolences to the victims' families. She said an investigation into the cause of the tragedy is underway.

In Sicily, Italy, wildfires were blamed for the death of two people and sent 700 tourists fleeing from their hotel overnight.

A 42-year-old woman died after trying to save her horses in Cefalu, east of Palermo, the local civil protection agency said late on Friday evening.

She was with her father and brothers but is believed to have become disorientated by the heat and smoke and slipped into a gully, it said.

A 68-year-old man also died after fleeing his burning home near Balestrate, west of Palermo, the ANSA news agency said Saturday.

The estimated 700 guests from the Hotel Costa Verde near Cefalu were evacuated to a local sports hall late Friday as fires approached, although they returned around 2 a.m. after the danger passed, ANSA said.

Firefighters reported a busy night across the whole of northern Sicily, although relief was expected from rain forecast later Saturday, due to last several days.

WITH AFP