Fire breaks out after accident at gas pipeline in Crimea

Late Saturday night, a fire broke out following an accident on a gas pipeline near the village of Vinogradnoye in Moscow-annexed Crimea, spreading to the surrounding forest and cutting off gas supplies to the resort town of Alushta and more than a dozen settlements, Russian officials said.
“There is no danger to the populated area,” the Russian Emergencies Ministry said early Sunday via the messaging service Telegram.
Officials dispatched by Russia to the Crimean peninsula reported on Telegram late Saturday that gas supplies to Alushta, a city of about 30,000 people, and 14 nearby settlements had been disrupted.
“After the gas in the pipelines has completely burned out, restoration work will begin,” the Russian-appointed Crimean administration said on Telegram.
Russian agencies reported, citing official sources, that there were no injuries. The fire devastated an area of ​​around 1,500 square meters, the state news agency TASS reported.
It was not immediately clear what accident caused the fire.