Two of the victims of an explosion that broke out this morning in a residential building in Bucharest, who have severe burns, will be transported for treatment to hospitals abroad, announced Prime Minister Ilie Bologian, quoted by Agerpres, BTA reported.
Three people died and at least 17 were injured as a result of the explosion in an eight-story residential building in Sector 5 of the Romanian capital, with two of the victims in serious condition, the Department of Emergency Situations announced earlier today.
Bologian said that most likely the affected block in the Rahova district will not be able to be restored and will have to be demolished. According to him, the available information indicates that it is a gas leak.
"Unfortunately, a tragedy occurred this morning and I express my condolences to the families of the deceased, the injured, all the residents of this block, because their lives were practically turned upside down (…) I understand that there are three dead and two people in a very serious condition. The Minister of Health informed me that it was decided to transfer two of the injured, who have serious burns, abroad. The remaining injured are in stable condition," the Prime Minister said.
According to Bologian, the explosion affected over 400 people and the government, together with local authorities, will try to provide support to the residents of the block. He added that he had contacted the interim mayor of Bucharest, Stelian Bujduvanu, to organize the provision of accommodation for the people from the damaged building.
"Hundreds of people who lived in the block were affected, probably over 400 people, because it is a fairly large block (...) In case the block cannot be rebuilt, we need to see what the situation is with the insurance of the apartments in this block. Unfortunately, we find that a small part of the apartments are insured", Bologian also noted, promising support measures for the residents of the damaged block.
In an interview with the Romanian National Radio, Bologian also indicated that "it is certainly a gas leak" and explained what the area of responsibility is of the gas supplier and what - of the owners' association, the Hotnews website reports.
Bologian indicated that there was a gas leak inside the block, and the supplier company Distrigaz was notified and the previous day stopped the gas supply to the building. According to him, the explosion was probably caused because someone broke the Distrigaz seal, which was used to stop the gas supply to the entire block.
"From the recordings "The dispatch office of the operator Distrigaz was notified of a problem, they went there the day before, they found that there were problems inside, they stopped the gas supply to this block, they sealed the component that was blocking (the supply). They received a call this morning, they went there again, they found that the seal was no longer in place. So someone must have intervened and practically restored the power supply to the entire block. As soon as the team was there, this explosion happened," the prime minister explained.
Agerpres reports that prosecutors in Bucharest have launched a preliminary investigation into the case.
The block in the Rahova district, where the explosion this morning destroyed two floors, has 108 apartments and was built in 1981, as part of the construction after the devastating 1977 earthquake, when safety standards, especially seismic ones, were increased, he specifies Hotnews.
The National Institute of Geophysics reported that today's explosion was registered by two of the seismic stations in Bucharest as equivalent to an earthquake with a local magnitude of 1.2.