Photo: AFP
A big explosion has rocked a natural gas hub in eastern Austria, killing one person and injuring at least 18, police say, the BBC reports.
A fire followed the blast which happened around 08:45 (07:45 GMT) at the Baumgarten site, just east of the capital Vienna, near the Slovak border.
On Twitter, Austrian police said the situation was under control and a technical fault had caused the blast.
Der Grund für die #Explosion in #Baumgarten ist auf eine technische Ursache zurückzuführen. Das Landeskriminalamt NÖ nimmt Ermittlungen auf.
— Polizei NÖ (@LPDnoe) December 12, 2017
The flow of Russian gas has dropped, triggering price hikes in Europe.
Baumgarten is a major hub for imported gas Russian gas, which is sent on to a number of European countries. The facility receives about 40bn cubic metres of gas per year.
Italy’s Minister for Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, said he would declare a state of emergency for energy supplies.
