TEHRAN (Reuters) - Up to 10 Iranian workers died on Saturday in hospital after being badly burnt in an explosion in a gas pipeline, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The pipeline transporting gas from the Khangiran refinery in Sarakhs to the city of Mashhad in Iran's northeastern province of Khorasan-e Razavi exploded on Friday when it was accidentally struck by an excavating machine, state media reported.
"About nine to 10 people were killed in the Sarakhs pipeline blast," Alireza Gharibi, director of Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company, told the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran's state television said 50 people also were injured.
The explosion set off a fire covering 2 sq km (.77 sq mile) but it was brought under control, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji told Fars that gas transfer through the damaged Sarakhs-Mashhad pipeline will be resumed within the next 24-to-36 hours.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and also sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves and the country's economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenues.
(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Michael Roddy)
Up to 10 Iranian workers have been killed after a gas pipeline exploded, reports suggest.  Iranian state media have said that the pipeline, which transports gas from the Khangiran refinery in  to the city of  in Iran's northeastern province of , exploded on Saturday, and at least ten workers were transported to hospital, where they died of their injuries.   

The director of the , Alireza Gharibi, said in an interview that "nine to ten people were killed in the Sarakhs pipeline blast." 50 others are reported to have been injured by the explosion, which sparked a large fire that has now been brought under control. After the initial incident, a number of workers with severe burns were taken to hospitals by helicopters. Gharibi stated that the explosion occurred while contractors were constructing a separate pipeline, which is to run nearby to the pipeline involved. The explosion is believed to have occurred when a construction vehicle lost balance and struck the pipeline.

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister  has said that the damaged pipeline will begin transporting gas again in the next couple of days. An investigation has begun into the cause of the disaster. According to the Associated Press, "Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and also sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves and the country's economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenues."


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