Austria: At least 1 dead, 21 injured in gas hub blast

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

A huge explosion at a major natural gas hub near Austria's border with Slovakia has killed at least one person and left many more injured.

The Austrian Red Cross told local media that 21 people were injured, one critically, in the blast at the Baumgarten gas facility around 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of the capital Vienna.

The 9 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) explosion at Austria’s largest import terminal for natural gas saw a surge in gas prices across Europe. The terminal receives gas from as far afield as Russia and Norway.

OMV group’s Gas Connect announced that a fire was largely contained and the terminal, which supplies gas across the continent, was temporarily shut.

Company spokesman Armin Teichert told Austrian news agency APA that a technical fault was suspected of causing the explosion.

Energy information service S&P Global Platts reported that Russia's Gazprom had to re-route gas supplies to Europe following the explosion.

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

A huge explosion at a major natural gas hub near Austria's border with Slovakia has killed at least one person and left many more injured.

The Austrian Red Cross told local media that 21 people were injured, one critically, in the blast at the Baumgarten gas facility around 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of the capital Vienna.

OMV group’s Gas Connect announced that a fire was largely contained and the terminal, which supplies gas across the continent, was temporarily shut.

Company spokesman Armin Teichert told Austrian news agency APA that a technical fault was suspected of causing the explosion.

Energy information service S&P Global Platts reported that Russia's Gazprom had to re-route gas supplies to Europe following the explosion.