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Explosion Kills 1, Injures Others at MOL Olefin-1 Plant in Northeastern Hungary

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An explosion during post-maintenance restart of the Olefin-1 facility of Hungarian energy company MOL killed one and caused serious burns to seven others, President Peter Magyar said in a social media post on Friday.

In a Facebook post, Magyar said emergency workers were in attendance at the Tiszaujvaros, northeastern Hungary site, where flames were emerging from a ruptured pipeline.

Measurements were yet to be taken at the time of his post, to determine quantities of hazardous chemicals released. Photographs published online showed plumes of black smoke rising from the facility.

Reuters reported that MOL Executive Chairman Zsolt Hernadi said that a pipeline had blown up leading to an "entirely unexpected" explosion of hydrocarbons, referring to the occurrence as an accident.

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