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Massive Explosions Near Romania’s Capital

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUCHAREST/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced late Saturday that patients will be rushed to hospitals in Italy and Belgium after two explosions at a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) station close to Bucharest caused dozens of causalities. Authorities said at least 46 people were injured, and one person died in the blasts in the town of Crevedia near the Romanian capital.

“We are trying to save as many lives as possible,” Ciolacu added. The injured included 26 firefighters who rushed to the scene following the first explosion on Saturday evening, authorities said.

Of the 46 injured, eight were intubated after suffering severe burns, the government confirmed. “We think four of the patients will more than certainly be transferred tonight to hospitals in Italy and Belgium,” Prime Minister Ciolacu told reporters following an emergency meeting with state agencies involved in handling the crisis.

Romania, a European Union member that emerged from decades of communist dictatorship, still faces challenges in its healthcare system.

As medics struggled to save lives, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis called the explosions a “tragedy” and said he was “profoundly saddened” by what occurred.

“An investigation must quickly be launched to see if rules were broken,” he wrote on his Facebook website page.

EVACUATIONS UNDERWAY

After the first blast, the fire spread to two tanks and a nearby house, causing evacuations within a radius of about 700 meters (0.4 miles), explained the government’s emergency response unit (IGSU).

Additionally, traffic on the national road was blocked, the IGSU said.

A second explosion occurred at the LPG station on Saturday evening, injuring dozens of firefighters, Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat, who is in charge of the IGSU, told media.

“I ask the authorities to take urgent measures for the injured so that these tragedies won’t happen again,” said Romanian President Iohannis.

Yet the situation remained dangerous in a nation with a notorious safety record. Though some 25 fire engines were deployed at the scene, the fire had yet to be extinguished, witnesses saw.

LPG is a fuel used in household appliances and as a gasoline and diesel alternative in some vehicles. Arafat warned more explosions could happen in Crevedia, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Bucharest, as a third tank at the site posed a risk, adding to anxiety among Romanians, many of whom already struggle with poverty.