Devastating double blast at Romanian gas station kills two and injures 56 – as pictures show how deadly explosions flattened homes and left crater in floor
- After first explosion on Saturday, fire spread to two fuel tanks and nearby house
Two devastating explosions at an unlicensed Romanian gas station near the capital Bucharest have left two people dead and 56 injured as images show flattened homes and craters left in the earth from the deadly blasts.
After the first explosion on Saturday, the fire spread to two fuel tanks and a nearby house, leading authorities to evacuate everyone within a radius of 700 metres, while traffic on the main road nearby was blocked.
A second explosion occurred at the liquefied petroleum gas station on Saturday evening, injuring 26 firefighters.
The fire was contained by Sunday morning, and the prosecutor general has taken over the investigation.
Most of the injured were firefighters who rushed to the station in the Crevedia commune to extinguish the blaze.
Fire fighters carry a person as flames rise after an explosion at a GPL station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 26, 2023
Aerial view of the site of an explosion at a LPG station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 27, 2023
An aerial view shows the site of the explosion and fire of an LPG gas station in Crevedia village, near Bucharest, southern Romania, on August 27, 2023
‘The fire started while gas was transferred from one tanker to another. A source of fire appeared under one of the tankers,’ general prosecutor Alex Florenta told a press conference on Sunday.
‘Speculations include that a cigarette was carelessly thrown,’ he added.
The two people who died were a couple, emergency department head Raed Arafat told reporters.
The man suffered a heart attack, while the woman died after sustaining severe burns, he added.
Among the injured – some with severe burns – were 39 firefighters, two police officers and two gendarmes, according to Arafat.
Firefighters working as robots spray water to extinguish a fire caused by an explosion at an LPG station in Crevedia, on August 26, 2023
Romanian firemen attempt to estinguish fire during an intervention in Crevedia village, Romania August 27, 2023
Flames rise after an explosion at a LPG station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 26, 2023
Rescuers work as flames rise after an explosion at a LPG station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 26, 2023
Fire fighters work as flames rise after an explosion at a LPG station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 26, 2023
‘Overnight we transferred two firefighters and two civilians abroad (for treatment) and more will follow,’ he said in a statement.
The four were taken to Italy or Belgium, according to the defence ministry.
Romania has requested assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to treat 18 burn patients, European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Austria, Germany and Norway offered help, Lenarcic said.
The company owning the gas station lost its permit to function in July 2020 after a verification discovered several irregularities, Florenta said.
Fire fighters carry a person as flames rise after an explosion at a LPG station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 26, 2023
Aerial view of the site of an explosion at a LPG station in Crevedia, near Bucharest, Romania, August 27, 2023
After being closed, the owners declared the gas station yard as a parking lot for the company’s tankers, but its employees ‘continued to make several operations of gas transfer from one tank to another or to other devices,’ he added.
‘I’m profoundly saddened that the explosions in Crevedia resulted in victims,’ President Klaus Iohannis wrote on Facebook, calling it a ‘tragedy’.
Anger has flared repeatedly in the EU member state over a lack of official oversight to ensure compliance with safety regulations.
In 2015, a blaze ripped through a Bucharest nightclub after fireworks were let off, killing 64 people.
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