backpacker
There was a danger of a fuel leak albeit a small one because the landing gear leg is attached to the front of the main spar web by eight bolts, if the leg had dug into the dirt at a higher speed and the spar become deformed this would have resulted in a twisting moment on the tank, this would have more than likely deformed the tank causing it to rupture, also there is a small chance of damaging the flexible fuel line that runs from the rear of the tank in the area of the leg.
This sort of damage demonstrates why you should make every effort to keep the aircraft on the Tarmac were it will slide rather than on a soft surface were it is likely to dig in.
The reason for the failure is most likely to be poor maintenance, there are two AD's that require inspection of the area, one requires the NDT of the casting on the lower part of the leg were the torque link attaches, the other the replacement of the mid bolt in the torque link based on flying time, both of these are dependent on the S/N of the aircraft and the S/N of the leg.
I have replaced both the legs on my PA28 due to cracks found during the NDT inspection, it is a most unpleasant job because access to the lower bolts is almost imposable if you have normal size hands, if I ever have to do the job again I will give my nine year old grandaughter two months supply of chocolate to fit the four bolts in the lower spar web.