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Two children killed, 8 adults injured in explosion in Medan
Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Dadang Hartanto said the forensic team was investigating the cause of the explosion.
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Personnel examine the damaged shellfish satay stall on Jl. Kruing in Medan, North Sumatra, after a gas explosion in which two children died and eight adults were injured on Apr. 11. (kompas.com/Mei Leandha)
T
wo siblings, identified only as Javier, 10 and Eren, 2, have died in a gas explosion that occurred at a shellfish satay stall in Sekip subdistrict, Medan, North Sumatra at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday.
Eight adults were also severely injured, including the owner of the stall Rahmat Efendi and his wife, Nurmala Dewi, who suffered from severe burns. Other victims were identified as Tria, Forina Wati, Fransiska Natalia and Natalia. All of them are currently being treated at Royal Prima Hospital and Advent Hospital.
The explosion also caused damage to four shops near Rahmat’s stall, which was in the middle of a souvenir center on Jl. Kruing.
Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Dadang Hartanto said the forensic team was investigating the cause of the explosion.
“We still do not know what caused the explosion that killed the two children,” Dadang told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
One of the witnesses, the stall’s worker Irma, said the stall's gas system had experienced problems since Thursday morning.
Head of sales of state-owned gas company Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) in Medan, Syaiful Hadi, said he had deployed a team to verify the cause of the explosion.
Syaiful said their investigation showed that the explosion was allegedly caused by a gas canister leak.
"In Rahmat’s stall we found a 12-kilogram and four 3-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas canisters. One was allegedly leaking. That seemed to be the reason. So, it was not because of PGN’s natural gas,” he said.
