At least two people died in two consecutive explosions at a liquid gas filling station near the Romanian capital Bucharest. Another 56 people suffered injuries, some of them serious, in the accident on Saturday evening in the village of Crevedia, 20 kilometers northwest of Bucharest, as the Romanian civil protection announced on Sunday.
The two dead were a married couple, it said. The woman succumbed to her severe burns, the man to a heart attack. Among the injured were 39 firefighters and two police officers and two gendarmes. The fire brigade managed to extinguish the fire at the gas station on Sunday night. What had triggered the explosions was initially unknown. The Romanian Public Prosecutor’s Office launched investigations against unknown persons for creating a disaster situation.
As the civil protection announced on Sunday, the gas station had no operating license. This was withdrawn from her in 2020 after an inspection found unauthorized structural changes to the property.
International aid was offered for the injured. Six of the victims are said to be treated in hospitals in Germany, Austria and Norway. Two seriously injured firefighters were taken to a military hospital in Brussels early Sunday morning. The neighboring country Bulgaria offered up to 17 hospital places. The Romanian government activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism on Sunday.
Report at agency Mediafax (subject to payment), Romanian. Disaster control for operating license according to Mediafax (subject to payment), Romanian.
