Russia offered to help Vietnam develop nuclear power plants during President Vladimir Putin's trip to Hanoi, Alexei Likhachev, head of the Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom told RIA agency in remarks published on Monday.

Likhachev, who was part of Putin's entourage during his visit to Vietnam last week, said he had made the offer to Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

"We offered all possible options for co-operation... in my conversation with the prime minister of Vietnam," RIA cited Likhachev as saying.

"Rosatom offers foreign partners not only high-power, but also low-power nuclear power plants, both in land-based and floating versions."

Vietnam has no nuclear power plants and scrapped plans to build its first two nuclear power plants in 2016 following the Fukushima disaster in Japan and due to budget constraints.

Before Vietnam cancelled its plans to build the plants, Rosatom had offered Hanoi a project based on high-power units with advanced Russian reactors, Likhachev said.

During the visit, where Putin received a 21-gun salute at a military ceremony, Russia and Vietnam signed agreements on issues including energy, underlining Moscow's pivot to Asia after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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