Explosion at Lukoil refinery in Romania - media

An explosion has occurred at the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery in Ploesti, Romania. According to official information, it was caused by the accumulation of gases formed as a result of waste leakage into a pipeline inspection channel. It was reported by Digi24 on Tuesday, October 21.

Representatives of the refinery said that the "incident" on Monday occurred during work on the refinery platform.

"The event consisted of a localized explosion in the industrial sewage system, which led to the ejection of the sewer casing. An employee of the contractor was injured after the incident. He was rushed to the emergency hospital in a conscious and stable condition for examination and specialized medical care," the statement said.

Safety experts at the refinery acted immediately to investigate the cause of the incident. The newspaper writes that the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery is currently undergoing a major overhaul. The work began on November 17, and the overhaul, which involves a complete shutdown of the refinery, will last until the end of November. Police said they had launched an investigation into the incident.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on October 20, a member of the European Parliament and leader of the far-right Romanian party S.O.S party, Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă, said she would "break the legs" of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he tries to make a speech in the Romanian parliament.