Nine People Injured in China Gas Pipeline Blast

A gas pipeline exploded late on Sunday in China's southwestern province of Guizhou, seriously injuring nine people, official news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.

The blast occurred on a pipeline owned by PetroChina (PCCYF) at Jiangbaying, near Shazi in Guizhou province, Xinhua said. No deaths had been reported.

The route is a domestic extension of a Myanmar-China gas pipeline.

After the explosion at 11.20 pm (1620 GMT), automatic control systems closed the pipeline, Xinhua said. The fire was extinguished at 2.30 am on Monday morning.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, said the report, and search and rescue is continuing.

A spokesman with CNPC, parent of PetroChina, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

(Reporting by Dominique Patton Editing by Joseph Radford)