An explosion at a refinery operated by Hungary’s energy giant MOL Group in Tiszaújváros has killed one worker and left nine others seriously injured, reported authorities.
On Friday, the Olefin-1 unit was hit during a restart at the MOL Petrolkémia site, sparking a fire that was later contained by firefighters.
Emergency teams deployed a mobile laboratory and a rescue helicopter as investigators moved to determine the cause.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar confirmed the casualties in a Facebook post, while Energy Minister István Kapitány and MOL CEO Zsolt Hernádi traveled to the site.
According to preliminary information, cited by Kapitány, a compressor exploded at the Olefin-1 plant after a major shutdown.
Local officials said there was no immediate need for civil protection measures, though monitoring at the site continues.
The incident comes months after a serious fire at MOL’s Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta on Oct. 21, 2025 – Hungary’s only major crude-processing facility.
That blaze followed an explosion at the AV3 unit, which processes crude oil fractions, and forced parts of the refinery offline before being contained.
At the time, MOL said there were no signs of external interference, with senior executives stressing that safety protocols had been followed and production was gradually restored.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán later said fuel supplies remained secure despite the disruption.
MOL, one of Central and Eastern Europe’s largest energy groups, operates refineries in Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia and remains heavily exposed to Russian crude imports via the Druzhba pipeline, even as it seeks to diversify supply sources.