A fire that possibly broke out due to oil leak from the oil pipeline may have caused the explosion of the oil pipeline in southeastern Yemen, Sabapress, citing a South Korean official, reported on Wednesday.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry is trying to know the cause of the explosion in Shabwa province after Yemen blamed on Tuesday Al-Qaeda for the explosion, the official said.

It is too early to assume that Al-Qaeda was responsible as media already did, because Yemen is still investigating the incident, the official said.

After a long battle firefighters could early today bring the fire under control and informed sources have estimated the losses of oil due to the explosion at 5000 barrels.

On Tuesday, a local source said gunmen from al-Qaeda put a ticking bomb under the pipes, and was detonated by remote.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has recently stepped up attacks against domestic and foreign targets including bombings and attempts to bomb oil pipelines in the country.