Italy has declared the state of emergency regarding energy supplies after the explosion at the Baumgarten gas terminal in eastern Austria, Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said on Tuesday. An explosion that occurred Tuesday morning at the Baumgarten gas terminal in Eastern Austria resulted in a dead person and the wounding of several people. The explosion, whose causes have not yet been identified, occurred at 8:45 am (7:45 am GMT) and was followed by a fire.

Gas Connect Austria, which owns the Baumgarten terminal, reported that natural gas deliveries from Russia to Italy via Austria were resumed after an interruption immediately after the explosion.

Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said the incident in Austria highlighted the fact that Italy “has a serious supply problem” as well as the need to develop the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas pipeline. This project would provide Italy with a new source of natural gas supply, but so far has been delayed by protests of environmental activities.

“If we had TAP, we would not have had to declare an emergency,” Calenda said.

The Baumgarten terminal is the main distribution center in Austria for natural gas coming from Russia and Norway. The facility, inaugurated in 1959 and with an annual capacity of 40 billion cubic meters, is one of the main gas hubs in Central Europe, serving mainly northern Italy and southern Germany. The terminal is controlled by Gas Connect Austria, where a 51% stake belongs to the Austrian energy group OMV.

On Tuesday, at the ICE Futures Europe stock exchange in London, the natural gas price with delivery next month climbed 20 percent to the highest level since December 2013.