CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's state news agency says gunmen have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the volatile Sinai Peninsula.

MENA said Tuesday that the explosion took place late Monday night south of el-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai governorate.

It said firefighers teams rushed to the scene to extinguish a fire there.

Gas pipelines have come under attacks several times since the 2011 downfall of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The last attack took place 10 days ago.

The fall of Mubarak led to a fracturing of Egypt's security agencies. Suicide bombings also have spiked and spilled into the capital, Cairo, and other cities. An al-Qaida-inspired group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem, has claimed responsibility for most of those attacks.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Egypt's state news agency says toppled President Mohammed Morsi has arrived in Cairo for a trial over prison breaks in 2011.

The MENA report Tuesday said Morsi flew by helicopter from Borg al-Arab prison in Alexandria, while some 130 others were driven to Cairo.

The case is rooted in the 2011 escape of more than 20,000 inmates from Egyptian prisons — including Morsi. Also charged are members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

A lawyer has said the trial appears aimed at "denigrating" Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group.

It is Morsi's second court appearance since Egypt's popularly backed July 3 military coup. He missed a Jan. 8 hearing in another trial after security officials said bad weather grounded a helicopter meant to bring him.