Fireball Shoots 25,000 Feet High
A natural gas pipeline 600 miles northeast of Moscow exploded early today, burning several square miles of forest and causing a fireball up to 25,000 feet high. No deaths or injuries were reported.
The cause of the blast outside Ukhta, a city of 150,000 people, was not immediately known.
The Russian news agency Interfax reported that the blaze, which burned several square miles of forest, lasted about five hours.
Residents of Ukhta rushed into the streets when they heard the explosion, officials said. The city is a center of Russia’s oil and natural gas industry.
A Japan Air Lines pilot flying from Frankfurt to Narita, Japan, reported seeing a fireball that reached as high as 25,000 feet, an airline spokesman said.
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