Latest update December 18th, 2024 5:45 AM
Latest News
- Stabroek Block offers unique opportunities for highest return on investment – Exxon’s VP
- EPA’s unlawful conduct, lax regulation would implicate the US in any resulting harm from gas project- Int’l lawyer tells US EXIM Bank
- Israeli attacks kill dozens across Gaza as ceasefire talks continue
- Prime suspect in Toshao’s murder surrenders
- Gas-to-Energy project gets initial approval for US$500M loan from US EXIM Bank- US Official
Mahaicony home damaged as gas cylinder explodes
…shaken couple demands compensation from company
Kaieteur News- A leaking gas bottle product of Massy caused an explosion around 02:30 on Tuesday morning leaving a Little Abary couple occupying the home shaken and counting their losses.
The couple Murtland Wills and Oneka Williams appeared shaken when this publication visited the scene Tuesday morning. Debris was seen scattered around the back yard and the water pipes were all shattered. The woman’s daughter told this publication that she received a call from her mother after 2 AM on Tuesday informing her of the incident. “She told me that after hearing the sound they went to check the back room. On her way there she saw the back door shattered and the top half hanging on its hinges. The windows to the back room and some other things were damaged. Walls blown off, foundation crack up,” the woman’s daughter related to this newspaper.
Damage caused by the explosion
During an interview with the distraught couple, Williams confirmed her daughter’s words. “Looking out the door the back door was gone. The door to the room that the gas bottle was in was shattered, all the walls from the room blown off. The wall to the kitchen cracked from the impact,” she said.
When asked if anyone was in the room at the time, or was she cooking, Williams replied in the negative. She recalled however, that she had done her laundry in the room earlier on Monday, noting that her washing machine and the water pump were also housed in the room.
Williams told the Kaieteur News that an initial investigation by the ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) attached to the Mahaicony Police Station revealed that the cause of the explosion was gas related. “They come after we made the report and they said, oh is the gas caused it,” she recalled.
Mahaicony home damaged as gas cylinder explodes
A team of four fire fighters from the Mahaica Fire Station was later dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival a thorough inspection was carried out with this publication on the scene. The gas bottle in question was retrieved and examined, since all of the electrical appliances were unplugged, and outlets checked to determine whether the explosion might have been electrical.
However, upon pouring water onto the bottle through the knob where the gas head is attached a series of bubbles were observed coming up. The fireman informed the couple that the top and bottom of the knob were leaking. “The slow leaking of the gas combined with the radiated heat contributed to the explosion,” he said.
After the investigation was completed and pictures taken, the firemen ensured that the area was safe and left. Williams informed this publication that shortly after another detective attached to the Mahaicony Police Station visited to inform them that they would have to give a statement and additional investigations would have to be done on their part.
Sometime around 14:00hrs three person claiming to be representatives from Massy’s Gas Company visited the residence and offered to examine the defective cylinder. They subsequently informed the couple that there was nothing wrong with the gas bottle and when asked to provide their names and which location they were attached to they refused, claiming they needed permission to do so. Williams then asked them to leave her premises as even after showing video evidence they refused to take her claims into consideration. “I told them to leave because they ain’t offer no sort of satisfaction or compensation. Just keep telling me it wasn’t their bottle fault. So the Fire Service lying? This is not the first blow up that happen with their bottles, I read about the one in the news that left the lady in the hospital,” she said.
“Christmas is coming, it will take about $1.5M to $2M to fix this because we have to break down what’s left and rebuild. Also have to get a contractor to look at the cracks in the kitchen wall and foundation to see what can be done,” she added.
Investigations are ongoing.
(Mahaicony home damaged as gas cylinder explodes)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The stakes are high in Guyana’s democracy
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In any vibrant democracy, the mechanisms that bind it together are those that mediate differences,... more
Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – The government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has steadfast support from many... more
Weekend Cartoon
