Butane blast injures eight

CEBU, Philippines – Eight employees of a butane store in Greyhounds Subdivision, Barangay Kinasang-an, Cebu City landed in a hospital after the supposedly empty butane canisters they were cleaning exploded yesterday afternoon.

A fire investigator, however, suspected the victims were not cleaning empty canisters as claimed but were refilling them with liquefied petroleum gas, which is illegal.

The victims, who included teenagers, are now recuperating at Chong Hua Hospital after they suffered first to second degree burns in different parts of their bodies as a result of the incident.

Police investigators identified the victims as Fedilino Almanoche, 18; Jimboy Aranes, 31; Rick Orcullo, 34; Elpidia Banduco, 19; Romnick Pia, 21; and Dexter Gora, 22. Two other victims remain unidentified as of press time as they were already admitted in the hospital before the police arrived at the scene.

The police identified the owner of the store where the victims are employed as a certain Amor Pelenia.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Peir Angelo Abellana of the Pardo Fire Sub-Station said the explosion that injured the victims was allegedly the second, and that no one was injured during the first incident.

He said at around 2:30 p.m. yesterday, the victims were allegedly cleaning the butane canisters at the front yard of Pelenia’s house when an explosion occurred.

Abellana, though, said no structures were razed by the resulting fire.

He said that when they responded to the alarm, they saw six victims with burns on different parts of their bodies.

“Ang uban adto nangapaksit gyud ang panit, ang uban wala ra hinuon,” he said, adding that they also saw deformed butane canisters scattered at the front yard.

Abellana said they received information during their initial investigation that there was a lighted candle at an altar around three meters from where the victims were cleaning the canisters.

“Naa siguro gas nga naglutaw-lutaw sa hangin unya nadakop sa kayo adtong gipasiga kuno nga kandila,” said Abellana.

He said he does not believe the victims were merely cleaning empty butane canisters, suspecting that they were already filling up the canisters with LPG. That is why, he said, the Bureau of Fire Protection would look deeper into the cause of the explosion.

Abellana also said he spoke with Kinasang-an Barangay Captain Jeffrey Navarro, who told him that the barangay has not issued any permit to Pelenia for her butane business.

Abellana recommended that Pelenia stop selling butane and remove all canisters from the vicinity of the explosion. –/RHM (FREEMAN)