A HORRIFIC gas explosion blew off the roof of a house in Pelandaba West, Bulawayo, on Friday morning leaving a 29-year-old woman nursing serious burns.
Bulawayo chief fire officer Mhlangano Moyo confirmed the incident, adding that gas was being sold from the four-roomed house and that
the fire was confined to the sitting room.
He said the fire brigade found three gas bottles weighing 2kg, 5kg, and 48kg including a scale.
“A female adult sustained burns and was ferried to a local hospital by private motor vehicle,” Moyo said.
He said firefighters found the house ablaze with the 48kg gas pipe leaking.
“The brigade closed the leaking gas attached to the 48kg cylinder that was still releasing gas. A high-pressure hose reel with breathing apparatus stage one was put into operation,” he said.
The estimated value of property lost was put at ZiG40 000 while the fire brigade saved ZiG210 000.
Moyo said the fire was a result of gross negligence.
He said he engaged the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority and the Environmental Management Authority to confiscate the cylinders as the sale of gas without a permit was illegal.
