The World - News from July 10, 1989

The explosion last month of a major pipeline along the Trans-Siberian Railroad in the Ural Mountains decreased the Soviet Union’s gas supply by 20%, forcing cuts in gas exports and supplies to domestic factories and consumers, a government official said. Gas Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin also said Soviet consumers should conserve gas used in kitchen stoves and brace for shortages of rubber and plastic goods made from the petroleum products the pipeline carried. A 1,153-mile pipeline carrying a mixture of benzine, propane and butane from western Siberia burst June 4 as two passenger trains were passing. A spark from one of the trains touched off an explosion, killing more than 600 passengers.