by Jel Santos
Three persons were injured when an explosion occurred in a gasoline station Friday afternoon in Mandaluyong City.
Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) Mandaluyong chief arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 3 Victorio Tablay identified the victims as 34-year-old fishball vendor Raymund Cabe, Bonifacio Base, 70, a balot vendor and Orlando Aquino Salud Jr., 23; a backhoe operator.
Investigation revealed that the explosion happened when an underground LPG tank was hit while workers were excavating the gas station’s ground at around 2:20 p.m.
“The backhoe operator accidentally hit the LPG tank under the ground. But luckily, it was not filled as it was emptied weeks ago, so the explosion was not that strong,” said Tablay in a telephone interview.
Tablay added that Cabe sustained third degree burn while Base suffered an 80 percent of a third degree burn. Meantime, Salud sustained multiple facial abrasions.
Base was discovered severely wounded a few hours after the explosion after he was said to have been thrown away by several meters due to the strong impact of the explosion.
All three victims are still recuperating at the respective hospitals where they were rushed.
Meantime a technical team from the Department of Energy (DoE) has recommended the cancellation of compliance certificate of the gas station.
Senior Supt.Joaquin R. Alva said they are coordinating with the Bureau of Fire while the investigation is on-going that will determine if safety standards were carried out by the gas station. (Madelynne Dominguez)
Public Service Announcement:
An explosion rocked the Petron station along Shaw Boulevard (Wack Wack) Mandaluyong City. The Petron station is on fire. Avoid the area as traffic jam is building up fast. pic.twitter.com/7YEe4qHdFQ— Harold Tan (@hitman531ph) November 24, 2017
