Updated 11am
ONE PERSON HAS been killed and several others injured in an explosion in Austria, emergency services have said.
The explosion took place at the country’s main gas pipeline hub at Baumgarten, east of Vienna, this morning.
“An explosion occurred at 8.45 am (7.45am Irish time), followed by a fire,” police spokesman Edmund Tragschitz told AFP, adding that the cause was not immediately clear.
“Things are under control,” he said.
Red Cross spokeswoman Sonja Kellner told the Austria Press Agency that one person had been killed and 18 injured. Several others have minor injuries.
Police said on social media that people should avoid the area around Baumgarten near Austria’s eastern border with Slovakia.
Several fire brigades from the surrounding area were called in to help.
The Baumgarten gas hub receives some 40 billion cubic metres of gas annually and redistributes it elsewhere in Europe including to Germany and northern Italy.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say