ST. PETERSBURG, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - A section of a natural gas pipeline supplying St. Petersburg and the surrounding region exploded Thursday morning, but no one was injured, local emergency services said.
The blast, which went off just after midnight outside St. Petersburg's Northern Thermal Power Station, caused a fire that spread over 500 square meters. The fire has been put out, emergency services said.
Local authorities gave assurances that gas supplies to Russia's second city, home to 4.6 million, and the surrounding region, would not be interrupted.
"[Gas monopoly] Gazprom's reserve capacity is now being used. This incident will not affect gas supplies to the region at all," said regional government spokesman Valentin Sidorin.
The cause of the blast has not yet been officially established, but Sidorin said the accident could have been caused by ongoing repair work on the pipeline.
