Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Underground fuel pipelines of a gas station exploded on Friday damaging at least three houses in Marapalam Village, East Padang Subdistrict, West Sumatra.

"The blast caused shattered ceiling and broken walls of the houses," Head of Disaster Mitigation of East Padang Fire Department Edi Asri said here Friday.

The leakage on the fuel pipelines was suspected as the cause of the accident. However, there was no casualty and the blast did not cause fire.

The local authority had reported the accident to the police. "Police line was set up around the site for security," Asri said.

Meanwhile, Anton, a local resident, said the explosion was so loud that alarmed people around the area.

The gasoline fume was quite strong around the site. "We (local residents) were told by the authority not to do any cooking activity to prevent fire," Anton said.

The owner of the gas station was asked to give compensation to residents whose houses were damaged by the explosion.

(A059/F001)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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