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1 person killed, 11 injured in gas pipe explosion in western German city

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Car wreckeges stand at the site were an explosion happened after a gas pipe was damaged during construction work in Ludwigshafen, western Germany, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. One person was killed in the explosion and several others were injured. (AP Photo/dpa, Fredrik von Erichsen) (The Associated Press)

Firefighters are busy at the site were an explosion happened after a gas pipe was damaged during construction work in Ludwigshafen, western Germany, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. One person was killed in the explosion and several others were injured. (AP Photo/dpa, Fredrik von Erichsen) (The Associated Press)

A firefighter is busy at the site were an explosion happened after a gas pipe was damaged during construction work in Ludwigshafen, western Germany, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. One person was killed in the explosion and several others were injured. (AP Photo/dpa, Fredrik von Erichsen) (The Associated Press)

Authorities say one person was killed and 11 were injured in an explosion after a gas pipe was damaged during construction work in a western German city.

Police in Ludwigshafen said the explosion outside a house in the city happened midday Thursday. Gas transport company Gascade said it wasn't clear why the gas pipe, part of a 57-kilometer (35-mile) pipeline that leads southward to the city of Karlsruhe, was damaged during work that it commissioned. Gas then leaked and caught fire.

Police said the main fire at the site was extinguished by late afternoon and smaller fires were under control.