Bucharest, (Samajweekly) A new death has been registered following the fire and explosions overnight at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station in southern Romania’s Dambovita County, announced an official with the country’s Interior Ministry.
According to Raed Arafat, head of the Department for Emergency Situations of the Interior Ministry, the new death was confirmed by an emergency hospital in Bucharest.
Two explosions overnight at an LPG station in Crevedia Commune, less than 30 km northwest of Bucharest, caused one death and 57 injuries at the scene, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to an earlier statement of the Interior Ministry, the first explosion resulted in eight victims, of whom one died from a heart attack, with no burns or other injuries on his body, while the other 50 victims occurred in the second blast.
The Ministry also pointed out that most of the wounded were their staff, including 39 firefighters, two policemen and two gendarmes.
According to the official Agerpres news agency, the local and surrounding counties and cities quickly dispatched more than 20 fire trucks and fire fighting robots soon after the explosions.
The wounded were quickly sent to nearby hospitals, and four wounded with serious burns were sent to Belgium and Italy for treatment by two planes arranged by the National Defence Ministry.
The exact cause of the explosions has yet to be known. Arafat told media that preliminary investigations showed that the LPG station has no operating authorisation.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared at Crevedia that in the next period checks will be ordered at all fuel and LPG stations in the country.
