TIRANA, Aug. 11 – A gas explosion in an ice cream and pastry shop in Tirana’s Don Bosko neighborhood left 18 people injured on Aug. 9, after an employee tried to fix a leaking propane tank he believed to be empty, authorities said.
The Sunday afternoon explosion also caused property destruction in a wide area, and in addition to the store’s employees and clients, some of the injured were pedestrians who just happened to walk close to the shop when the blast occurred.
Witnesses told local media they saw a powerful explosions and fire that destroyed the entire pastry shop and damaged surrounding property on Don Bosko Street, a dense commercial and residential area west of downtown Tirana.
Nearby business owners said they had repeatedly told authorities they felt threatened by the shop’s use of gas tanks to do its baking.
“We complained to police about how the tanks were stored. They came, took note of it, but nothing happened,” a neighboring business owner, Mexhit Hima, told a local television station, adding there had been several notifications to police about the problem before the explosion. His son is one of the injured.
Hospital officials said most of those wounded had left hospital within a day of the explosion, but six people remained hospitalized for burns and other injuries.
As authorities investigated the blast, a grim picture of ignorance of safety rules and lack of proper regulation emerged.
With small propane tanks used across Albania in restaurants and homes, because the country lacks a gas distribution network, experts worry there could be repeat cases. There have been calls on authorities to act quickly to close the safety gaps in the system.
One official told a local television station that many of the small tanks used in Albania have been discarded in other countries as having completed they usable and safe period.
The head of the Central Technical Inspectorate, Ejana Xhixha, told Top Channel television, that enforcement of the safety rules is not enough.
“We need cooperation from the consumer, so that they refuse to buy gas cylinders from unlicensed subjects,” she said.
Officials with the Tirana Military Hospital, which houses the country’s primary trauma unit, said six people were seriously injured and one 50-year-old man remained in critical condition with wounds on his upper body and head.
Police also said they had charged one of the pastry shop owners, Dull Dervishi, 67, who worked on the gas tank himself instead of calling in a licensed specialist, as mandated by Albania’s laws.
Dervishi was trying to move the tank, resulting in a leak, after which he called out for the electrical breakers to be put down. Seconds later the explosion occurred, according to prosecutors investigating the events.
Authorities wanted to arrest Dervishi, but could not do so because he is being taken care of at a Tirana hospital burn unit.
Dervishi told investigators he had tried to open the tank because it was not working.
As most businesses of its type in Albania, the shop did not have insurance to cover the damages done to the neighbors.
