Romania explosion: Huge blasts at fuel station kill two and injure dozens
At least two people died and 56 were injured after two blasts at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station in Romania.
The injured included 39 firefighters who went to the scene following the first explosion near the capital Bucharest on Saturday evening.
Shortly after, a second blast sent a mushroom cloud billowing into the sky, rocking the forecourt in Crevedia.
Several people are in critical condition with severe burns, authorities said.
The two people who died were a couple, Raed Arafat, the head of Romania's emergency department, told reporters on Sunday.
They sent four people who were injured, including two firefighters, to hospitals abroad and said others would follow.
Two police officers and two gendarmes are among the injured.
Authorities do not yet know what caused the blast. Mr Arafat said the station was no longer in use and "did not have a permit to function", according to quotes reported by the Agence France-Presse news agency.
People within a 700-metre (almost half a mile) radius were initially evacuated from the area, with Mr Arafat warning there was a risk of another explosion.
But by mid-morning, the fires had been contained.
Romania's President Klaus Iohannis described the explosions as a "tragedy" and said he was "profoundly saddened" by what had happened.
"An investigation must quickly be launched to see if rules were broken. I ask the authorities to take urgent measures for the injured so that these tragedies won't happen again," he wrote on Facebook. Source
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