EANS-News

Accident at the AGRANA corn starch mill in Aschach/Donau

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Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide
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Company Information

Vienna - At around 08:00 this morning, an accident occurred at the corn starch
mill in Aschach an der Donau as a result of an operator error which triggered a
chemical reaction and the release of chlorine gas. This caused 37 people on the
site to experience respiratory problems.
After receiving first aid, the majority of those injured will be able to leave
hospital later today. One person is in intensive care and a further two have
been admitted to normal wards. AGRANA is extremely distressed that this incident
led to people being injured. At no time was there a risk to the area around the
plant.

All of the responsible authorities, such as the fire and ambulance services,
were immediately notified by the management team on site. They were at the scene
within minutes, enabling the injured to receive swift medical care. The
evacuation of the site has been suspended again following testing of the
residual levels of chlorine gas early this afternoon. Work has already started
to identify the exact cause of the accident.

The plant at Aschach an der Donau was not operating at the time of the accident
due to scheduled auditing and maintenance work taking place this week.
Production will resume again as scheduled in a few days.



Further inquiry note:
AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG


Mag.(FH) Hannes Haider
Investor Relations
Tel.: [phone]
e-mail:[e-mail]


Mag.(FH) Markus Simak
Pressesprecher
Tel.: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]

end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
F.-W.-Raiffeisen-Platz 1
A-1020 Wien
phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
mail: [e-mail]
WWW: www.agrana.com
ISIN: AT0000603709
indexes: WBI
stockmarkets: Frankfurt, Berlin, Wien, Stuttgart
language: English