U.S. fuel crisis eases as pipeline returns to normal after hack

A person fills their car with gas as people queue at a Shell gas station after a cyberattack crippled the biggest fuel pipeline in the country, run by Colonial Pipeline, in Washington, D.C. [Reuters.]

Widespread gasoline shortages along the U.S. East Coast began to ease slightly on Saturday as the operator of the nation's biggest fuel pipeline said it was back to delivering "millions of gallons per hour" following last week's cyberattack.

Ships and trucks were deployed to fill up storage tanks after the six-day Colonial Pipeline shutdown, the most disruptive cyberattack on record, triggered widespread panic buying that left filling stations across the U.S. Southeast dry.