Saboteurs blow up pipeline junction in northern Iraq

[UpInArms]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/258/economy/Saboteurs_blow_up_pipeline_jun:.shtml

KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) Saboteurs blew up a junction where multiple oil pipelines cross the Tigris River in northern Iraq on Tuesday, setting off a chain reaction in power generation systems that left the entire country without power, officials said.

Firefighters struggled to put out the blaze after the attack near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. Crude oil cascaded down the hillside into the river. Fire burned atop the water, fueled by the gushing oil.

Beiji is the point where several oil pipelines converge, said Lt. Col. Lee Morrison of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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''This made the Beiji Electricity station stop for technical reasons making the whole electricity system (in Iraq) stop,'' al-Samarie said in a statement released by his office.

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