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Sabotage Blamed for Gas Pipeline Rupture in Russia's Dagestan

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 July 2005, 03:01 CDT

Text of report by Russia TV on 6 July

[Presenter] Damage to the main gas pipeline has been reported in Dagestan. An explosion took place in one of the pipeline's sections at night. Gas supplies to the south of the republic and to Azerbaijan have been stopped. Our correspondent Timur Abdullayev has the details.

[Correspondent, by phone] The incident on the main gas pipeline between Mozdok and Kazimagomed near Makhachkala happened at about 0030 [2030 gmt 5 July]. Eyewitnesses say they heard a bang first and almost immediately after that the noise of a powerful gas spurt roared across the town. Gas was erupting from the damaged pipe under high pressure. Everything subsided 30-40 minutes later. Maintenance teams of Kaspiy-Gazprom, the operator of the gas supply facility, stopped gas supplies and started looking for the damaged section.

The damage occurred on the 597th km of the pipeline where the workers discovered a big crater between 15 and 20 m. in diameter and over 6 m. deep. Two large sections of the pipe were also found here. Traces of the so-called external action are clearly seen in the place of rupture. Criminal investigators have not yet prepared a report about the cause of the incident but gas experts do not doubt that the blast has been staged. Kaspiy-Gazprom said that work to repair the pipeline was to begin in the next few hours.

Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

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