ST. PETERSBURG (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 went off just after midnight.
Local authorities gave assurances that gas supplies to Russia's second city 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.
