Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, blast caused by ruptured gas line


MARCH 4, 2015



(Reuters) - A blast in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, on Wednesday was caused by a contract worker accidentally rupturing a gas line, a city spokeswoman said, and was not at the Sherritt International fertilizer plant as earlier reported by local media.

Wendy Kinsella, communications adviser for the City of Fort Saskatchewan, an industrial center northeast of the provincial capital Edmonton, said there were no injuries and the resulting fire was quickly extinguished.

"There was a bit of a boom when the gas initially released," Kinsella said. "The highway was closed to keep people away from the area."

Initial local media reports said the gas leak was at a fertilizer plant owned by Sherritt International Corp but Kinsella said the explosion occurred to the east of the facility, probably around one km away, in an undeveloped area