Sharjah: An Asian man suffered moderate injuries after a gas cylinder exploded in his first-floor apartment in a building in Sharjah Industrial Area 10 on Friday morning. The explosion caused severe damage to the two-storey building.
Police said that the man was thrown out of the building due to the force of the explosion. He has been admitted in Al Kuwaiti Hospital.
As many as 77 residents of the building including nine families were evacuated.
The police operations room received a call at 7.10am reporting the explosion.
When police, Civil Defence and paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the building badly damaged including the apartment in which the cylinder exploded.
The explosion damaged apartments in the building and five cars parked below as one of the building’s walls collapsed on them.
Police and Red Crescent have provided accommodation to the residents until the building owner completes the maintenance work of the damaged structure.
Colonel Adel Al Mazimi, fire expert at Sharjah Police forensic laboratory, said the cause of explosion was a leakage in the extension pipe of the gas cylinder that was attached to the stove. Cooking gas, a mixture of propane and butane, mixed with oxygen in the atmosphere is potentially inflammable if there is a source of fire, as in this incident, which resulted in the explosion.
Colonel Al Mazimi urged residents to follow safety instructions for storage and use of gas cylinders including keeping them away from sunlight or heat and away from the stove. Regular checks for structural damage and leaks, placing cylinders in an upright position, and keeping them in a well-ventilated and covered area are important, he advised.
