An exploded gas pipeline in Lithuania’s northern district of Pasvalys was repaired on Sunday night and will be back into operation after additional safety checks, Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid, the operator of Lithuania’s gas pipelines, has said.
“If we find that any additional work needs to be done, we will carry it out. But we plan to put the pipeline into operation tomorrow [Monday], around noon,” Biknius told BNS.
The explosion of a gas pipeline was reported at around 17:00 on Friday in the village of Pasvalio Vienkiemiai, in the District of Pasvalys.
Read more: Gas pipeline explosion rocks northern Lithuania, 250 people told to evacuate
The fire was localised after the valves were closed. According to Amber Grid, gas supply to consumers was largely unaffected.
Insulation works have recently been carried out at the site of the exploded gas pipeline, Biknius said.
“Works are regularly done to ensure the safety of the pipeline. We have also done this type of works on this pipeline. But they were of a nature that did not have a direct impact on the pipeline itself, they were related to the re-wrapping of the pipeline's insulation. They were done last week,” he told BNS.
“The pipeline should not have been damaged during the works,” he added.
On Saturday, police opened a pre-trial investigation to find out whether the maintenance and repair work on the gas pipeline was carried out properly.
“An investigation will be carried out to see if there was no additional external impact. For our part, we consider it to be a technical seam defect,” Biknius said, adding that such an investigation is normal practice in such cases.
Amber Grid has already scheduled internal diagnostics, will review the protocols, and will carry out checks on this and other pipelines, according to the CEO of Amber Grid.
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