Pipeline Hack Fuels Gas Crunch; US Suspects Russian Origins

 (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

CLEMMONS, N.C. (AP) – Motorists are finding gas pumps shrouded in plastic bags at tapped-out service stations across more than a dozen U.S. states. Shortages and panic-buying continued Thursday even as the operator of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline reported making “substantial progress” in resolving the computer hack-induced shutdown responsible for the empty tanks.

GasBuddy.com’s tracking service reported that nearly 70% of North Carolina’s gas stations still were without fuel and 73% of stations were out in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden said U.S. officials don’t believe the Russian government was involved in the hack of the Colonial Pipeline but “do have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia.”

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