AGIOI THEODOROI, October 2026 — A Motor Oil blast at the company’s Agioi Theodoroi refinery on Thursday afternoon injured four workers, two of them seriously, according to emergency and hospital reports.
The Motor Oil blast happened during maintenance welding by an outside crew when a violent gas release set off an explosion without a fire, those reports said.
Police and the Labour Inspectorate are on site. A 62-year-old contractor who was carrying out the maintenance work has been brought in for questioning. Inspectors have not yet said whether that will become an arrest.
Two Greek workers aged 40 and 59, described as multiple trauma patients with facial burns and fractures, were taken first to Corinth Hospital and then to Thriasio Hospital. Both remain conscious. Doctors judged one man’s fractures more serious and took him into orthopaedic surgery. Both are expected to move to the burns ward after that treatment.
Motor Oil blast casualties
Two other workers went to Corinth Hospital under their own power with slight injuries: a 28-year-old Greek man hurt in a fall during the blast, and a 48-year-old Slovenian man hit by the shock wave.
Motor Oil said two contractor-crew workers were hurt and taken to Corinth Hospital with fractures, and that early assessments pointed to a steam release on a unit that was out of service for preventive maintenance.
That Motor Oil blast account conflicts with reports of four injured. Greek City Times notes both figures and awaits the Labour Inspectorate findings. The firm also said it was suspending the shutdown maintenance work until Monday 19 October.
Earlier plant incident
Thursday’s accident comes days after a separate explosion at the same plant on Friday 9 October, which later killed two contractor workers. Greek City Times reported that earlier Agioi Theodoroi explosion when two workers were seriously injured; four people were arrested over that case.
Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour and police teams are examining how the latest Motor Oil blast happened and what safety conditions applied during the welding work. Company details are also listed on Motor Oil’s corporate site.
Source: ERT News
Bill Giannopoulos
Junior Editor
Bill Giannopoulos is a Junior Editor at Greek City Times, covering Greek and international news, sport, and history.