Negligence blamed in gas pipeline blast

KIEV, Ukraine – Negligence was to blame for the explosion of a natural gas pipeline that supplies Russian gas to Europe, Ukraine’s top prosecutor said Tuesday.

Monday’s blast destroyed about 100 feet of the Urenhoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod line south of Kiev. Nobody was injured.


Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun said that shifting soil led to a break in the pipeline. He said officials should have been able to spot the natural changes occurring and taken action to build up the soil around the pipeline.

Piskun said that a similar explosion occurred in 2003 at the same location. Prosecutors launched an investigation and have already identified officials responsible for the damaged stretch of the pipeline, he said.

AP