Gas pipeline explosion causes power outage in Syria

An explosion of unknown origin in a gas pipeline located in the northeast of Damascus has caused an electrical blackout in Syria and the first official indications point to a "terrorist act", according to the official news agency SANA.

The Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Ali Ganem, told Syrian television, quoted by SANA, that "the main gas pipeline providing electricity to the southern part of the country has been the subject of an explosion that could have been caused by an act of terrorism", without giving further details.

This Arab Gas Pipeline, which runs between Egypt, Jordan and Syria, is located between the Syrian cities of Al-Dumayr and Adra, north-east of the capital Damascus.

According to Ganem, this pipeline, with a capacity of 7 million cubic metres of gas, feeds the Deir Ali, Tishreen and Nasiriyah stations in the southern region, which are currently out of service as a result of the explosion.

According to SANA, which showed images of the fire, firefighters and civil defence teams have already extinguished the fire after almost an hour.

For his part, the Minister of Electricity, Mohammed Zuhair Kharboutli, assured that the electric current is partially returning to the Syrian provinces, including the centre of Damascus.

"Power has been restored to some important vital facilities in Damascus, such as hospitals and some residential neighbourhoods, as well as a partial return in the provinces of Homs, Hama and the coastal area," he said in a call to Syrian state television.

Last January, underwater bombs that were placed off the Syrian coast of Tartus exploded and damaged the oil facilities used to pump oil to one of the country's two refineries, according to state media.

No group has taken responsibility for this attack, as well as for other actions carried out last December, including one against a refinery in the central province of Homs.