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Pipeline blast kills at least 27

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A pipeline carrying oil byproducts exploded in a southern Iraqi city Tuesday, sparking a massive fire and killing at least 27 people, officials said.

Several people had been siphoning fuel from the pipeline when the explosion occurred in an industrial zone south of Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Baghdad, police Lt. Raid Jabir said.

He said at least 34 people had been killed and another 45 injured.

But Khalil Jalil Hamza, the governor of Qadisiyah province, of which Diwaniyah is the capital, said the death toll was inflated. Speaking on Iraqi television, he said 27 people had been killed and 15 other injured. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the two accounts.

The reason for the explosion was not immediately clear, and a huge fire in the area was hampering rescue efforts, Jabir said.

Jabir said Iraqi and coalition forces had cordoned off the area.

The pipeline is 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Diwaniyah.

It was originally used to transport gas from the Shuaiba oil field in Basra to the Musayyib power station, but former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein converted it in 2003 to hold gasoline reserves for the army, Jabir said.

He said locals made a hole in the pipeline to siphon off fuel after the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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