Police in Ludwigshafen said the explosion outside a house in the city happened midday today. Gas transport company Gascade said it wasn't clear why the gas pipe, part of a 57-kilometer 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.