date_range
Friday 22 Nov 2024
LOCAL EDITION
close
LOCAL EDITION
At least two people have died and 56 people injured after two explosions rocked an unlicensed liquefied petroleum gas filling station just north of Romania's capital Bucharest, officials said. (Photo/AFP)
At least two people have died and 56 people injured after two explosions rocked an unlicensed liquefied petroleum gas filling station just north of Romania's capital Bucharest, officials said.
The two people who died were a couple, emergency department head Raed Arafat told reporters on Sunday. The man suffered a heart attack, while the woman died after sustaining severe burns, he added.
Most of the injured were firefighters who rushed to the station to extinguish the blaze from the first explosion before the second occurred.
According to Arafat, among the injured — some with severe burns — were 39 firefighters, two police officers and two gendarmes.
"Overnight we transferred two firefighters and two civilians abroad (for treatment) and more will follow," Arafat said in a statement.
The four were transferred to Italy or Belgium, according to the defence ministry.
Romania has also 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 station was no longer working'
It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts in Crevedia, a commune of villages, and prosecutors have opened an inquiry.
"We know that the station was no longer working, so it clearly didn't have a permit to function," Arafat said.
The fire also forced the evacuation of people within a 700-metre radius.
"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.
__
Source: TRT
