Arab gas pipeline explosion caused Syria blackout – state media

A possible attack on a pipeline in Syria caused a nationwide blackout overnight, the state news agency quoted ministers as saying Monday.

According to news agency SANA, the electricity minister, Mohammad Kharboutli, said an explosion on a pipeline in the Damascus area on Sunday night “led to an electricity blackout across Syria”.

The minister said that the explosion occurred between the suburbs of Al-Dhumayr and Adra and caused a drop in gas supply to power stations.

Some power stations were eventually reconnected and power provided to vital infrastructure, he said, adding that by dawn electricity was gradually returning to several provinces.

The news agency published pictures of a night-time blaze it said was caused by the pipeline explosion.

The oil minister, Ali Ghanem, said the blast on the main pipeline supplying southern Syria “may have been caused by a terrorist act” but he provided no further details. The 36-inch pip supplies three power stations in the south of the country, he said.