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Deadly explosion in Alabama shuts gas pipeline, shortages possible

A plume of smoke rises from the site of an explosion on the Colonial Pipeline on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, in Helena, Ala. Colonial Pipeline said in a statement that it has shut down its main pipeline in Alabama after the explosion in a rural part of the state outside Birmingham. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) A plume of smoke rises from the site of an explosion on the Colonial Pipeline on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, in Helena, Ala. Colonial Pipeline said in a statement that it has shut down its main pipeline in Alabama after the explosion in a rural part of the state outside Birmingham. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

By Associated Press November 1, 2016 1 min read

HELENA, Ala. (AP) – An explosion has shut down a pipeline that supplies gasoline to millions of people for the second time in less than two months, raising the specter of gas shortages and price increases.

One worker was killed and a half-dozen were injured in Monday’s blast in Alabama.

An earlier pipeline leak not far from Monday’s explosion led to Colonial Pipeline to shut down the delivery system in September. That prompted dry pumps and higher prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The effects of the latest disruption aren’t immediately clear.