Pipeline fire an accident says Egyptian official

The head of Egypt's natural gas company says a fire at a gas terminal in the northern Sinai Peninsula was caused by a gas leak.

The head of Egypt's natural gas company says a fire at a gas terminal in the northern Sinai Peninsula was caused by a gas leak.

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Saturday's fire, preceded by an explosion, did not cause casualties.

However, officials had to shut off the flow of gas to neighboring Jordan and Israel to contain the blaze. The head of the Egyptian company for natural gas, Magdy Toufik, said in a statement that the fire broke out "as a result of a small amount of gas leaking."

Earlier, a regional governor in the Sinai, Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, told Egyptian media he suspected sabotage, but did not explain further.