Twin massive explosions at a gas station in Romania killed one person and injured 57 others, officials said on Saturday.
The explosions took place at a liquefied petroleum gas station in the Romanian town Crevedia near the capital Bucharest.
Fire from an initial explosion engulfed two tanks and a nearby house, forcing evacuations within a radius of 700m, the government’s emergency response unit (IGSU) said.
It added that the explosion blocked the traffic on the national road.
A second explosion took place on the same day at the LPG station in the evening, the deputy interior minister Raed Arafat said. At least 26 firefighters were injured, the minister who is in charge of the emergency response unit said.
Preliminary visuals of the blaze showed Romanian firemen attempting to extinguish the fire during an intervention in Crevedia village as several houses in a lane shrouded under a thick blanket of smoke.
Romanian firemen work on the scene of a fire during an intervention in Crevedia village— (AFP via Getty Images)
The firefighters also deployed cranes to pour streams of water on the affected areas, photos of the rescue operations showed.
Around 25 fire engines were at the scene to try and bring the blaze under control, while people within a 700-metre radius were evacuated, Romania’s emergency situations inspectorate said— (AFP via Getty Images)
Of the total injured, eight people who suffered severe burns were intubated, the government said on Saturday.
The firefighters contained the blaze by Sunday morning. Officials said the prosecutor general has taken charge of the investigation to probe the likely cause behind the explosions.
Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu had said of the eight severely injured patients, four will “more than certainly be transferred to hospitals in Italy and Belgium” on Saturday night.
He was speaking to the reporters after an emergency meeting with the state agencies looking into the crisis.
Officials deployed around 25 fire engines at the scene.
The deputy interior minister Arafat warned of more explosions as a third tank at the site posed a risk.
He added that the gas station did not have authorization to operate, a news outlet reported.
LPG is widely used in Eastern Europe as fuel as it is significantly cheaper than gasoline or diesel.
