(Reuters) -The U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday that it was responding to a natural gas pipeline explosion at Lake Lery, Louisiana, and there have been no reports of injuries, casualties or pollution at this time.
The Coast Guard received a report of a large fire at Lake Lery, it said in a release.
“The pipeline has been secured. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.”
A Coast Guard spokesperson identified the line involved as the TOCA LINE, operated by Third Coast High Point Gas Transmission LLC, adding the fire was still burning at present.
The company could not be immediately reached for comment.
“Preliminary information indicates a barge broke loose from its mooring and impacted the pipeline,” a spokesperson from the U.S. Pipeline And Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said.
“The pipeline has been shut down and the affected section of pipe has been isolated. Remaining gas will be allowed to burn off. PHMSA will continue to monitor this event.”
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad, additional reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Aurora Ellis)