A suspected attack on a pipeline in Syria caused a nationwide blackout overnight, the state news agency quoted ministers as saying Monday.

 

According to SANA, the electricity minister said an explosion on a pipeline in the Damascus area late Sunday "led to an electricity blackout across Syria".

 

Some power stations were eventually reconnected and power provided to vital infrastructure, he said, adding that by dawn electricity was gradually returning to several provinces.

 

The news agency published pictures of a nighttime blaze it said was caused by the pipeline explosion.

 

The oil minister said the blast on the main pipeline supplying southern Syria "may have been caused by a terrorist act" but he provided no further details.