Oil leaks from damage to the Iraqi oil pipeline passing through Akkar were detected Wednesday. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Oil leaked from a damaged section of the disused Iraqi pipeline passing through Akkar on Wednesday, leading to a fire breaking out in the evening, our correspondent in the area reported.
Here’s what we know:
• The leak appeared near al-Diwan restaurant in Abdeh, Akkar. A fire broke out shortly afterwards. Firefighters from Bebnine put out the flames and inspected the site to prevent other fires.
• This is not the first time leaks have been detected in the pipeline, our correspondent noted.
• Residents called on the authorities Wednesday to deal with this recurring problem.
• Last September, the associate director-general of Tripoli's oil facilities, Hadi al-Houssami, reported that the damage on the Iraqi pipeline was caused by attempts to siphon fuel from it.
• The pipeline was built nearly 90 years ago, and was shut down at the beginning of the Civil War in Lebanon in 1975.
