Gas Pipeline Blast Near Damascus Cuts Power Across Syria
An explosion at a major natural gas pipeline near Damascus triggered power outages across Syria, according to state media.
(Bloomberg) -- An explosion at a major natural gas pipeline near the Syrian capital of Damascus triggered power outages across the Middle Eastern nation, according to state media.
The blast early Monday was the result of a “terrorist attack,” Oil Minister Ali Ghanem said, according to state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. He gave no further details.
No deaths or injuries were reported from the explosion, which struck the Arab Gas Pipeline that feeds southern parts of the country. Power was gradually being restored to some areas and firefighting teams were working to extinguish the blaze, Sana reported. The agency posted a tweet with footage of an enormous fire against a darkened sky.
The power failure is the latest blow to a nation battered by years of civil war and economic sanctions from the European Union. The U.S last month said it would also impose sanctions on President Bashar Al-Assad and others close to him, a measure aimed to force his regime to negotiate an end to the war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians since erupting in 2011.
Electricity Minister Mohammad Kharboutli said that the explosion occurred between Al-Dhumayr and Adra on the outskirts of Damascus and caused a drop in pressure at the Deir Ali power plant, leading to the outages, according to Sana. Natural gas is commonly used as a fuel to run power plants.
The 1,200 kilometer (745-mile) Arab Gas Pipeline delivers the fuel from Egypt to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This is the sixth explosion at that part of the pipeline, Kharboutli said.
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