ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Gas supplies from Central Asian and Russia were disrupted when twin explosions ripped through a natural gas pipeline in Kazakhstan, a ministry said Wednesday.
The Emergency Ministry of Kazakhstan announced that two blasts occurred at a pipeline prompting authorities to cut gas supplies. No injuries were immediately reported in the blaze, Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reports.
Authorities in Astana said around 80 firefighters responded to the gas explosion. The pipeline carries gas from Russia and Central Asia through the former Soviet republic.
Kazakhstan announced last week that it agreed to continue using the transit network in Ukraine to ship oil through Ukraine.
Kazakhstan in late January halted oil transit through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba oil pipeline following a dispute over transit prices. Kazakhstan instead sent oil through Belarus to Poland.
