Spokesman: Massive fire in southwest Moscow extinguished

Source: Xinhua | 05-11-2009 09:12

MOSCOW, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The fire caused by a gas pipeline explosion in southwest Moscow has been put out, a spokesman for the Moscow branch of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Sunday.

The fire was extinguished 15 hours after it broken out early on Sunday, spokesman Yevgeny Bobylev was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Five people were injured and some 70 cars were damaged by the blaze, the ministry said.

Some 100,000 telephone users were left without telephone and Internet communication as the fire destroyed or damaged telephone cables, it added.

The pipeline exploded shortly after Russia's Victory Day celebrations on Saturday, triggering Moscow's largest fire in the past few decades.

Russia's Investigative Committee has earlier ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said the incident was almost certainly technical in nature.

"In my opinion, 99 percent sure, this was a technical catastrophe. This all still needs to be investigated," Luzhkov told Russia's state television.

"The cause could have been an upsurge of pressure in the pipeline, as a result of which an explosion took place underground," he said.

Editor:Zhang Yun