13 hurt in Malabon LPG tank explosion

MANILA, Philippines - At least 13 persons, including two children, were wounded when a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank exploded at a roadside canteen in Malabon City yesterday morning.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Roberto Villanueva said canteen owner Jayson Arollado, 33, suffered third-degree burns all over his body while his wife, Melanie, sustained second-degree burns on the face, nape and arms.

John Paul Dacuyan, 2, and Gail Adrianne Ramos, 3, sustained second-degree burns. A certain Ceril Javier was also hurt in the explosion.

The Arollados and Dacuyan are confined at the Dr. Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center with five other victims while Ramos is being treated at the Fatima Hospital in Valenzuela City along with four others.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Bernard Cruz of the Malabon City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said that at around 10:30 a.m., they received information about an LPG tank explosion at a canteen along Javier street in Barangay Santolan.

“It’s only a small LPG tank, the one used in Super Kalan, but since the gas is too flammable, several patrons of the eatery were also hurt,” Cruz told The STAR.

Cruz said leaking gas from a defective safety valve caught fire, resulting in the explosion.

The Arollado couple, who were preparing the food, sustained the most serious burns because they were near the gas tank, Cruz said. 

The blast also triggered a fire that destroyed the ceiling of the canteen but residents quickly put out the blaze, Cruz said.

Villanueva reminded people using LPG to cook their food “to check their gadgets from time to time to avoid this kind of incident.”