At least nine people died and four were injured on Tuesday in a fire caused by the gas cylinder explosion in a pizzeria in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
“Eight victims died from asphyxiation inside the restaurant,” indicated the official press agency (Ani), which cited local authorities. The ninth victim died in the hospital due to the severity of her injuries, the newspaper indicated. L’Orient Le Jour.
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This is how the place looked after the fire. (Photo: courtesy of L’Orient Le Jour).
According to firefighters, the explosion and fire in the premises Pizza Secrets They were caused by “a gas leak.” Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told reporters that at least eight people died from “asphyxiation.”
The accident “demonstrates that this place did not comply with public safety regulations,” lamented deputy Ibrahim Mneimneh.
Firefighter Michel al-Murr told the newspaper Al-Jadeed that the nine victims were employees of the restaurant. “They couldn’t escape because they were trapped in a back room where they took orders over the phone,” he explained.
Mohammed, a local waiter, said that managed to escape with two clients. “If I hadn’t been in the room serving, I would be dead.”, he told local media. “There were two clients. I took them out. The flames devastated everything”he added.
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The employee of a neighboring cafe said he heard an explosion and then saw “a customer of the restaurant being thrown outside” by the explosion.
The pizzeria is part of a building that houses several state administrations, including the Import Directorate of the Ministry of Finance and the National Authority of the Litani River, the Lebanese news portal indicated. Naharnet.
Nine employees died in the fire. (Photo: courtesy of L’Orient Le Jour).
The Lebanese economy has been in free fall since the end of 2019which aggravates an old problem of public control in several sectors.
After going to the scene, deputy Paula Yacoubian told local media: “This is a crime scenepublic safety is never taken seriously in this country.”
“The forensic services will carry out their investigation and justice will name those responsible for this incident,” the Minister of the Interior promised for his part.
Preliminary investigations point to an illegal gas connection as the cause of the tragedy.
