At least five people were killed and five others injured on Thursday in a gas pipeline explosion in southwest Iran, Fars news agency reported. Initially, ISNA had reported fewer casualties.
"Gas leakage from a pipeline that linked the gas network from Mahshahr city to Ahvaz city, caused the blast," ISNA quoted local official Kiamars Hajizadeh as saying. The two cities are located in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province.
"At least four people, including one child and a woman, were killed in the blast and five people were wounded."
ISNA alos said that the explosion caused several vehicles on the road to catch fire and burn.
Iran's state TV reported that five cars in the area had caught fire. "Fire fighters and ambulances have been dispatched to the area," state TV reported.
Poor safety measures and Iran's aging infrastructures have been blamed by some authorities for blasts in the past.
There have been no suggestions that the incident could have been anything else but a technical mishap. There have been some militant attacks in the region in the last few months.
The number of those killed and wounded might change as emergency services receive more accurate reports.
