Eleven die in US campsite blast

The huge blast left a crater 86ft deep

The death toll from a natural gas pipeline explosion in New Mexico rose to 11 on Monday after a man died in hospital from his burns.

Bobby Smith, aged 43, was the sixth member of the same extended family to die in the disaster.

His daughter-in-law, Amanda Smith, aged 25 of Carlsbad, remained in critical condition in Lubbock, Texas.

The explosion occurred before dawn on Saturday, sending a fireball down the banks of the Pecos River near Carlsbad where two families had been camping.

Sole survivor

The blast left a crater 86 feet (26m) long and 20 feet (six metres) deep.

It generated heat so intense that sand melted into glass, and part of bridge's concrete structure turned to powder.

If she pulls through, Amanda Smith will be the sole survivor out of 12 people from two families who were camping beneath the bridge.

Her husband, five-year-old daughter, three-year-old son and mother and father are among the dead.

Some of the victims stumbled into the river in an attempt to escape the flames.

The disaster took place close to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, whose caves, bats and fossils attracts large numbers of visitors.

A spokesman for the El Paso Natural Gas Company, the owners of the 50-year-old pipeline, said it was not known what had caused the blast.

The company said the pipeline had passed an inspection as recently as 2 August.

Legislation

An investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, John Somerhalder, said it would take several months to complete an investigation.

Legislation that would tighten the inspection regime for underground pipelines is currently stalled in the US Congress.

A member of the House of Representatives, Jay Inslee (Democratic Party, Washington) said the explosion might spur Congress to pass a comprehensive pipeline safety bill.

"It's galling to think that more tragedies could happen while these bills sit in committee," Mr Inslee said.

Forty two people in the US were killed by natural gas pipeline accidents between 1986 and 30 June, according to statistics of the Office of Pipeline Safety, an agency of the National Transportation Safety Board.

El Paso Energy Corp said on Monday that the disaster had led to the closure of parts of its huge system carrying gas from Texas and New Mexico to California, and that the throughflow was roughly 50%.

"No customers have been cut off, but they are operating at reduced levels," a spokesman said.