Saboteurs bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula on Monday, sending flames into the sky and cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan, a security official said.

Officials said a car had parked near the pipeline in the Bir al-Abd area, 80 kilometres (about 50 miles) from the north Sinai town of El-Arish, shortly before the explosion.

Emergency services were deployed to the area to try to bring the fire under control, the official said.

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It was the third attack since February, when an uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak and saw power handed over to a military council.