2 injured in gas cylinder explosion in Inguraidhoo

A gas cylinder exploded in a house in R. Inguraidhoo on Thursday, leaving two people injured.

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) information officer Major Ibrahim Azim said the incident took place in Gulhazaaruge, and was reported to the authority at approximately 02:45 pm on Thursday.

Azim said that the incident left two people injured.

One of the victims is being treated at the Inguraidhoo Hospital, while the other has been transferred to the Ungoofaaru Regional Hospital.

Inguraidhoo Council’s president Ismail Abdul Rasheed identified the victims as two women.

Ismail told Sun that one of the victims is a young woman and that she did not sustain any serious injuries. He said that the young woman was in the bedroom when the incident took place and suffered a shock due to the explosion.

Her condition has stabilized, he said.

Ismail said the second victim is an elderly woman who sustained serious burn injuries on both her legs along with burn injuries on her face.

He said that she is estimated to have burns covering approximately 50 percent of her body.

Authorities are working on transferring her to Male’.

Ismail said the details of the incident are unclear at this point - whether the gas cylinder had exploded or whether the cooker was turned on while the cylinder had been leaking gas.

But the incident did not result in a huge fire, he said.

He said that while explosion resulted in part of the roof of the house to collapse, it did not cause a huge fire.