Missouri gas pipeline explodes

A pipeline ruptured and burst in Audrain County just north of Mexico, a town in Missouri, news outlet KMIZ 17 reports.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol Troopers on the scene, the pipeline is currently handled by Panhandle Eastern Pipeline, which is a subsidiary of Dallas-headquartered Energy Transfer.

The report details that Panhandle has been at the forefront of a ‘history of regulatory issues’, according to information received from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Transportation documents.

A spokeswoman on behalf of the pipeline, Vicki Granado, told KMIZ 17 that the fire was extinguished before 9am. However, several homes were left without power and the company has been working to find a place to stay for those affected by the outage.

Granado claims that the company was not doing any work on the line prior to the explosion.