Perilous Times
Up to 10 dead in Iran gas pipeline blast
* From correspondents in Tehran
* From: AFP
* September 12, 2010 3:37AM
UP to 10 people are feared dead from a gas pipeline blast near Iran's
northeastern city of Mashhad and another 16 have suffered burns.
"Around nine or 10 people have been reported dead and some 16 of the
people working there have been taken to hospital in Mashhad, out of
whom six were treated as outpatients," the Fars news agency quoted
Alireza Gharibi, managing director of the state-run Iran Gas
Engineering and Development Company, as saying today.
Officials said yesterday's explosion occurred when a mechanical shovel
struck a pipeline carrying gas from Khangiran refinery near
Turkmenistan border to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad.