Accumulated gas in the air caused a fire on a pipeline carrying oil and disrupted oil exports in southwestern Iran, state-run television reported Saturday. One person was killed. The television said pipelines carrying oil and gas from Abadan refinery to the port city of Mahshahr on the Persian Gulf caught fire at 11:30 p.m. Friday (2000 GMT). The report said one pipeline guard has been killed and another injured. It gave no further details. "The fire has disrupted oil exports from the port city of Mahshahr," the television reported. The report said firefighters had not yet been able to extinguish the fire Saturday morning. But Asghar Qashqaei, a local eyewitness, told The Associated Press that fire had been extinguished and technicians were repairing the pipelines. Mojtaba Haj Hosseinkhani, an Iranian Oil Ministry official, rejected sabotage and said accumulation of gas was the cause of fire.
