Ecuador oil pipe blast kills six

At least six people have been killed and several others injured in an explosion along Ecuador's only crude oil pipeline.

The blast happened near the north-eastern town of Bermeja, close to the border with Colombia. The cause is not yet known.

A spokesman for the state oil company, Petroecuador, said those killed had been travelling in a bus when a branch of the pipeline running parallel to the road exploded.

Oil supplies have been halted after the rupture of the pipeline, and the company said the possibility of a bomb attack was being investigated.

Police were already investigating another explosion last weekend along a nearby stretch of pipeline, believed to be due to a dynamite attack.

Ecuador is Latin America's sixth-biggest producer of crude oil, which is the country's main export.

The government is negotiating a deal with the private sector to build a second line, but faces opposition from environmental and indigenous groups.