A pipeline carrying gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan has been hit by an explosion in the Sinai peninsula.
The explosion on Monday sent flames into the sky, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. Emergency services were deployed to control the fire.
The blast took place at a pumping station along the pipeline at Nagah, in the Bir Abdu region, sources told the Reuters news agency.
The news agency quoted an official as saying that men armed with machine guns came in a small truck and forced guards at the station to leave before planting explosive charges.
Gasco, the company which operates the pipeline, shut it down after the explosion.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/2011740176861868.html
