At least two people died and 56 were injured after two blasts at a liquefied petroleum gas station in Romania.
The injured included 39 firefighters who went to the scene following the first explosion near the capital Bucharest late Saturday evening.
Shortly after, a second blast sent a mushroom cloud billowing into the sky, in the village of Crevedia, northwest of Bucharest.
Several people are in critical condition with severe burns, authorities said. Four people who were injured, including two firefighters were sent to hospitals abroad and others will follow.
The two people who died were a couple, Raed Arafat, the head of Romania’s emergency department, told reporters.
Authorities do not yet know what caused the blast. Dr Arafat said the station was no longer in use and „did not have a permit to function.”
People within a 700-meter radius were initially evacuated from the area.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu visited the site on Sunday and said that the owners of seven properties that were damaged in the blast would receive compensation.
Romania’s Orthodox Church announced it would donate 3,000 lei to the families of those killed and injured.
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis described the explosions as a „tragedy” and said he was „profoundly saddened” by what had happened.
„An investigation must quickly be launched to see if rules were broken. I ask the authorities to take urgent measures for the injured so that these tragedies won’t happen again,” he wrote on Facebook.
