Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An explosion yesterday killed 28 people working on a natural gas pipeline in eastern Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's national oil company said.
The cause of the fire, which broke out just after midnight, was maintenance work, the company, Saudi Aramco, said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi said 12 people were missing and an unspecified number were wounded. The fire did not disrupt gas supplies, he told reporters during an OPEC summit in Riyadh.
The fire broke out while contract workers were linking a new pipe to the pipeline during maintenance, Aramco said.
The blaze occurred about 19 miles from Aramco's Hawiyah gas plant. Five Aramco employees were among the 28 who were killed, said the company, which did not provide information about the other workers.
"The company is taking all necessary measures to guarantee the continuation of the normal gas output," Aramco said.
A Saudi adviser to Saudi Arabia's oil ministry said there was no link between the explosion and the OPEC summit. He said there was no question the fire was an accident and terrorism was ruled out.
"This is purely maintenance-related," the adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
An Aramco official contacted by phone by The Associated Press declined further comment.
Aramco is the world's largest oil producer, located on the country's east coast. The Hawiyah plant produces 310,000 barrels of ethane and NGL daily.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments