3rd LD Writethru: 1 killed, 21 injured in gas explosion near Vienna

VIENNA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and 21 were injured, including one seriously, on Tuesday in an explosion at a gas station in Baumgarten an der March, some 50 km east of Vienna, the capital of Austria, official sources said.

Fire brigades and rescue teams are at the site, which has been largely closed to the public, a Xinhua correspondent said.

The blast occurred in the morning at a gas station of the international energy company OMV, not far from the border with Slovakia. It set off a fire which could be seen from the Vienna side. The victims are mostly employees working in the station.

Baumgarten an der March, a small subdivision of the municipality of Weiden an der March in Lower Austria, Austria, has only around 200 inhabitants.

The fire is almost is extinguished, and the explosion destroyed only part of the station and did not trigger a larger explosion in the whole gas station.

The state criminal investigation said a technical defect could be the cause of the tragedy. Terrorism could be ruled out from the accident.

According to the local media, the gas station is the largest import and takeover station for natural gas in Austria. Natural gas from Russia, Norway and other countries is taken over there, measured, tested and compressed for onward transport. Operator Gas Connect Austria assures that the national natural gas supply can be recovered for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, Italy's Industry Ministry declared a state of emergency Tuesday after the deadly explosion at a gas plant in Austria interrupted the flow of gas from Russia to Italy.

The ministry added that the nation's needs will be covered by stockpiles for the duration of the emergency, so consumers will not be affected. Enditem