Syria: Gas pipeline fire in Deir ez-Zor blamed on sabotage

A picture taken shows a Syria gas field, 35 kilometres (20 miles) northeast of the ancient city of Palmyra, in the central province of Homs on July 9, 2017 on July 9, 2017 [STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images]

A fire broke out on a gas pipeline between Al-Shoula and Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria on Monday, which authorities said was caused by an act of sabotage.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted Hisham al-Saleh, head of the gas sector at the Syrian Petroleum Company, as saying the fire had halted gas supplies from the Al-Jbessa gas plant to power stations.

READ: Israeli forces shell outskirts of Beit Jinn, launch incursion into southern Syria with 9 military vehicles

Al-Saleh said firefighting teams immediately isolated the area on both sides of the blaze and were continuing efforts to put out the fire as gas pressure in the area fell, SANA reported.

The area between Al-Shoula and Deir ez-Zor contains facilities and pipelines linked to gas production and transport.

Earlier on Monday, local sources told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency that a fire had broken out on a gas pipeline near the town of Al-Shoula, south of Deir ez-Zor province. Syrian civil defence teams sent to the site began firefighting operations to contain the blaze.

READ: Syria says 11 soldiers killed in Friday’s blast at army site in Deir ez-Zor

0 Comments

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.