Butane Explosion in Barcelona Hospitalizes Two with Serious Burns

A deflagration in an apartment in Poblenou led to the evacuation of nine people and left three homes uninhabitable.

Generic image of emergency lights reflecting on wet asphalt in a city.
IA

Generic image of emergency lights reflecting on wet asphalt in a city.

A butane explosion in a Barcelona building led to the hospitalization of two people with serious burns and the evacuation of nine residents, with three homes affected.

Yesterday, a deflagration caused by a butane cylinder in an apartment building on Venero street, in Barcelona's Poblenou neighborhood, resulted in eleven people being injured. Two of them, a woman and her minor son, residents of the affected apartment, were transferred to Hospital Vall d’Hebron with serious burns, although their condition is stable.
According to the head of the Barcelona Fire Department intervention, the explosion occurred while the mother was cooking. It was confirmed that the building did not have natural gas supply. The incident mobilized nine ambulances from the Sistema d’Emergències Mèdiques (SEM) and generated about thirty alert calls to the 112 emergency number, the first of which was received at 13:34. Protecció Civil de la Generalitat activated the pre-alert phase of the Procicat plan.
The fire following the explosion was quickly extinguished by the Fire Department, who ruled out structural damage to the two-story building. However, the affected apartment, the adjacent one, and a third were rendered uninhabitable. The remaining residents were able to return to their homes, albeit without water or electricity, as the electrical connection was damaged by the flames. Municipal services offered temporary accommodation, for one to three days, to those affected.

"The explosion occurred while the mother was cooking and there was no natural gas in the building."

the head of the Barcelona Fire Department intervention