Austria chemical plant explosion kills two -police

VIENNA, Dec 21 (Reuters) Two workers were killed and one seriously injured in an explosion at a chemical plant in the northern Austrian city of Linz, police said.

''We have two dead and one seriously injured,'' a police spokeswoman said. ''We are searching for the cause.'' The ammonia producing plant of Agrolinz Melamine International was being maintained when the explosion happened, a spokesman for the firm told public broadcaster ORF.

''The equipment was shut down immediately, there was no leakage of ammonia,'' said company spokesman Gerhard Kneidinger.

REUTERS SP VV1612