A fire in a pipeline in Russia's southern Daghestan Republic has left thousands of people without gas.
The Emergencies Ministry said the blaze erupted overnight but did not give a cause.
There was no word on whether the outage may have been caused by an attack by militants active in the North Caucasus region.
The Gazprom state-run gas monopoly said it was not immediately clear when gas deliveries can be restored.
The disruption affects the cities of Khasavyurt and Kizilyurt, which have a combined population of 170,000, as well as a number of neighboring towns.
The Emergencies Ministry said the blaze erupted overnight but did not give a cause.
There was no word on whether the outage may have been caused by an attack by militants active in the North Caucasus region.
The Gazprom state-run gas monopoly said it was not immediately clear when gas deliveries can be restored.
The disruption affects the cities of Khasavyurt and Kizilyurt, which have a combined population of 170,000, as well as a number of neighboring towns.
