Action taken to ensure Austria gas explosion has no impact on Slovakia: official

BRATISLAVA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Slovak gas transmission company on Tuesday adjusted its network regime to ensure a blast at the Baumgarten gas terminal in Austria, near the country's border with Slovakia, has no impact on the country.

Company spokesperson Pavol Kubik said: "We've postponed gas transportation in the direction towards Baumgarten for safety reasons."

According to Ondrej Sebesta of the Slovakian gas supplier Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel, this step has no impact on supply to Slovak customers.

"Gas supplies for industry and households continue smoothly, without any limitation," Sebesta said.

A massive blast at the Baumgarten gas terminal on Tuesday morning left one person dead, 21 others injured. Cars in a nearby car park were "melting and burning down" because of the immense heat, local media reported.

The explosion was also audible and visible on the Slovak side of the border. Dusan Dvoran, mayor of the village of Vysoka pri Morave in the Western Slovakia, said: "The explosion happened about 500 meters from us. The flames were as high as 100 meters," Dvoran said.

Austria's state criminal investigation said a technical defect could be the cause of the tragedy. Terrorism could be ruled out from the accident. Enditem