Late Monday evening, a fire and explosion occurred at one of the raw material processing plants at MOL’s oil refinery in Százhalombatta (Pest county, near Budapest), the National Directorate General for Disaster Management reported. The facility’s firefighters began extinguishing the fire, and professional units from several municipalities also arrived at the scene. The fire was contained by early Tuesday morning, and no injuries were reported.
A fire and explosion occurred late Monday evening at MOL Danube Refinery’s AV3 plant in Százhalombatta, the Hungarian oil company confirmed. The company’s facility firefighters were the first to begin extinguishing the fire.
Professional firefighters from the surrounding settlements of Érd, Törökbálint, Szigetszentmiklós, and Budapest also arrived with the highest alert level. Mobile disaster response laboratories from Pest and Komárom-Esztergom counties, as well as chemical and powder foam containers, were also mobilized to the scene. The Pest County Directorate of Disaster Recovery is also on site.
Seventeen firefighting units are participating in the intervention, together with the facility’s own forces. The units are also using water cannons and foam to extinguish the fire. The fire was contained by Tuesday morning, and extinguishing work continued throughout the morning.
MOL announced in the evening that there were no injuries during the fire at the AV3 plant and that the exact cause of the accident is being investigated.
According to eyewitness reports, the flames were visible from several kilometers away from the Százhalombatta refinery, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.
Mihály Vezér, mayor of Százhalombatta, wrote on his social media page that the local government was in contact with the refinery’s emergency response team and that the city’s leadership team had also been called into service.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán responded to the incident, stating on his Facebook page that he had consulted with MOL executives and the Minister of the Interior on Tuesday morning. As he wrote,
Hungary’s fuel supply is secure. We will investigate the circumstances of the fire at the Százhalombatta oil refinery as thoroughly as possible.”
Not only in Hungary, but also in Romania, an explosion shook the oil industry on Monday. According to a report by economica.net, the explosion occurred around noon at the Petrotel-Lukoil oil refinery in Ploiesti, southern Romania.
The explosion was not followed by a fire, but a 57-year-old worker suffered serious leg and skull injuries as a result of the detonation.
He was taken to the intensive care unit of the local hospital. At the time of the explosion, the Romanian refinery was not in operation, as it had been shut down on October 17, for periodic technical inspections.
Via MTI, Featured image: Pexels
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