Gas pipeline explodes: More than 100 injured in inferno

By Carola Frentzen

Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) -More than 100 people have been injured in the massive explosion of a gas pipeline near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur . 63 of them are being treated in hospitals, the news portal "Malay Mail" quoted the local deputy police chief Mohd Zaini Abu Hassan as saying. It was not initially known how serious the injuries were.

Hassan went on to say that 49 houses were affected by the fireball, which rose dozens of meters into the sky in the morning (local time).

According to the operations center, the flames were at times as high as a 20-story skyscraper. The accident occurred in the Putra Heights community near a pipeline belonging to the state-owned Petronas company.

Several people were temporarily trapped in nearby houses. Rescuers were deployed to free them. Meanwhile, almost 80 firefighters battled the flames for hours.

Eyewitnesses reported that the explosion initially felt like an earthquake .

A videodistributed by the Bernama news agency showed a huge column of fire as well as charred trees and destroyed cars.

The newspaper "The Star" spoke of a "huge inferno". People in the disaster area had suffered burns. Numerous evacuees were sheltered in a nearby mosque.

It was initially unclear what caused the explosion.