A big blast has rocked a major natural gas hub in Austria, killing one person and injuring at least 18, police say.

A fire followed the blast which happened around 08:45 (07:45 GMT) at the Baumgarten site, just east of the capital Vienna, near the Slovak border.

Via Twitter, police said the situation was under control and a technical fault had caused the blast.

The flow of Russian gas to Europe has dropped, triggering price hikes. Italy declared a state of emergency.

Baumgarten is a key hub for imported Russian gas, which is sent on to a number of European countries. The facility receives about 40bn cubic metres of gas per year.

(BBC)