Crevedia – investigations and solidarity

Explosions at an LPG station close to Bucharest are making headlines in the local and international publications

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Roxana Vasile, 28.08.2023, 14:00

Investigations are being carried out at all stations across Romania selling fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). And according to the countrys Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, the stations, where irregularities involving public safety risks have been discovered, will be closed down. What happened in Crevedia, a commune in southern Romania, must never repeat! A local LPG station, which was not supposed to be functional as it had its safety permit withdrawn three years ago, blew up and went on flames on Saturday night.

The investigation carried out by the General Prosecutors Office, which took over the present file on aggravated criminal damage followed by destruction, is being hindered by the gas leaks on the companys premises, says the head of the aforementioned institution, Alexandru Florenta.

Florenta says that searches are presently being conducted at the local city hall and one of the companys working centers in Bucharest, as well as at the houses of the two company managers.

Alexandru Florenţa: „The two main directions we are focusing on at the moment in this investigation, are the activities carried out by the company through its station in Crevedia after a decision had been issued to close down the aforementioned center due to a series of irregularities discovered here. The second line in our inquiry is aimed at finding out how the aforementioned LPG station was allowed to function and how the institutions in charge carried out their investigations here.”

The case in Crevedia has also got the attention of anti-corruption prosecutors, who are investigating the crime of abuse of office. In turn military prosecutors are conducting their own research into the rescue team intervention, in an attempt to explain the high number of injured among the rescuers. Seven houses in the area have been affected by the explosion, three being almost razed to the ground. County and central authorities have pledged support for their reconstruction while the damage caused by the explosions is still being assessed.

At the same time, the Ministry of Labour is to come before the Government with a series of emergency assistance packages for those affected by the explosion. However, the most important is the medical and psychological assistance given to those wounded and traumatized by the event. Blood centers in Bucharest and 24 other counties have been open as early as Sunday for donations for the scores of wounded, mostly firefighters, gendarmes and policemen, some severely wounded by the second explosion. They are being treated in several hospitals around Bucharest, or have been sent to hospitals in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Norway and Italy. France, Israel and Bulgaria are also ready to offer medical support to Romania.

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