In Iran, 50 people have been injured in an explosion in a section of an Iranian gas pipeline near the northeastern city of Mashhad of Khorasan Razavi province.Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company Director Alireza Gharibi told Iranian news agency, IRNA that the blast occurred when an excavator mistakenly struck the pipeline, transporting gas from the Khangiran refinery in Sarakhs to Mashhad. Gharibi said that all the injured were transferred to a hospital in Mashhad and are receiving treatment. The IGEDC director said that it took three hours to extinguish the fire, which covered an area of nearly 300 square meters while it caused no other damage. Iran has world’s second largest natural gas reserves.