0 Police investigate explosion at LPG warehouse

Police have started an investigation into an illegally operating liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) warehouse, which caught fire resulting in five casualties last Friday. Officers from the National Police’s forensic laboratory in Denpasar were seen taking pictures of the outside of the warehouse at around 2 p.m. on Saturday, before entering the scorched building. The officers came out of the building around 90 minutes later, carrying with them charcoal, explosion residue, plastic pipes and 13 smashed 12-kilogram LPG canisters. 

Buleleng Police detective unit chief, Adj. Comr. Ketut Adnyana Teja, said he could not yet comment on the investigation, only briefly mentioning that the police were still investigating a figure with the initials AR, who allegedly owns the warehouse, without giving further details. “We still have to investigate the conflagration because the warehouse’s location is quite secluded and far from residential areas. Moreover, all the key witnesses are still in critical condition and we are not yet able obtain a statement from them,” Adnyana said. 

“Whether AR is only the owner, who leases the building, or whether he directly operated the warehouse, everything is still under investigation,” he said. The explosion occurred in the LPG warehouse, which was located in Banjar Tegal, Singaraja district, on Friday evening. The warehouse was operating illegally and had been previously raided by the police in 2012. 

While the police have not announced the official cause behind the blaze, preliminary findings suggest the fire was caused when one of the workers was welding, while other workers were transferring gas from a 3-kilogram LPG canister into a 12-kilogram canister. Five of the warehouse workers were reported to have suffered serious injuries and are currently being treated at Sanglah Hospital. 

The five casualties of the blaze are 40-year-old Gede Budarma from Busungbiu district; 30-year-old Komang Eliana from Kalasida subdistrict; 30-year-old Mudi Ariawan from Banyuning subdistrict; 32-year-old Gede Sumerta from Kaliasem subdistrict; and 30-year-old Kadek Gunarsa from Pemaron subdistrict. The victims were initially treated in the emergency care unit of Buleleng Hospital, until the hospital referred them to Sanglah where better medical equipment is available. 

A surgeon from Buleleng Hospital, Ketut Suparna, mentioned that the casualties were in critical condition and said that they had received initial treatment in his hospital. Suparna said they had all suffered serious burns all over their bodies. “Most of them suffered 80 percent burns, while only one of them suffered less than that,” he said. “Their injuries are of a severe grade and they needed immediate treatment; we could only provide them with the initial treatment,” he explained.

source : bali daily