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Gas explosion forces evacuation of primary school in Tunisia

Xinhua,December 12, 2017 Adjust font size:

TUNIS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- A gas explosion in Tunisia has forced evacuation of a primary school, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior said Tuesday.

A primary school has been evacuated by the security units in coordination with the Civil Protection following an explosion of a gas transport valve at the region of Ghanouch.

No casualties or property damages have been reported yet in the explosion, the ministry source said.

The incident is due to a bad maneuvering of the drilling rigs that operated in the Ghanouch municipal repository, before accidentally touching the valve carrying gas from a field in the far south of the country to the governorate of Gabes.

"Units of the Civil Protection, reinforced by security patrols and teams of the Tunisian Society of Electricity and Gas (STEG), rushed on site to douse flames that reach 20 meters in height," said an official statement.

Regional Director of Civil Protection Atef Houiji revealed that fires have increased following a leak of crude oil around the pipeline carrying the gas. Enditem