Warsaw - (AFP) - One of the two Druzhba oil pipelines linking Russia with Germany has closed after a leak was discovered in Poland , the Polish operator PERN announced Wednesday.

The company said in a statement, "The causes of the accident are unknown at the present time - pumping in the damaged line stopped immediately. Line 2 is operating normally," explaining that the leak was detected on Tuesday evening.

Drogba is the main oil pipeline that carries Russian oil to Germany.

"This part of the main oil pipeline transports crude oil to two German refineries, PCK Raffinerie GmbH Schwedt and TOTAL Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland," said a spokeswoman for Bern. GmbH).

"Rescue measures are underway. All equipment is on site," Katarzyna Krasinska told AFP.

The leak occurred near the village of Zorowice, 180 km west of Warsaw.

Work on the Druzhba pipeline, whose name means "friendship", began in the early nineties and today extends over a 5,500-kilometer network, transporting oil from the Urals to refineries in Poland and Germany.

Another branch of the "Drogba" pipeline transports Russian oil to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.