Around midnight, a gas explosion on the Miënweg in Genk blew away the facades of two houses. The suspected cause of the explosion is a gas leak. The 51-year-old resident suffered serious burns. “His back was badly burned,” says neighbor Jessica Timmermans.
Jasper De Spiegeleer, Marco Mariotti
06-05-24, 09:08
Latest update:
06-05-24, 17:45
It was around midnight when an immense bang occurred on the Miënweg in Genk. A single man sat in his kitchen and reportedly lit a cigarette. For reasons that are still unclear, gas must have accumulated for this. When the spark from the lighter came out, the whole thing exploded.
It is not clear who called the emergency services, but the neighbors were not immediately aware of any harm. “My friend went outside to take a look because he heard some commotion, but we didn’t hear an explosion,” said neighbor Jessica Timmermans. “When we looked closer, we couldn’t believe half the house had just been blown away.”
(Read more below the photo)
The resident lay injured on the ground and the emergency services took care of him. “The fire brigade asked us if they could quickly use our shower,” says neighbor Jessica. “The victim had suffered extensive burns. His hair was completely scorched. And I think his back was burned the most. The paramedics immediately took him to our shower and sprayed him continuously with water.”
The house itself is so seriously damaged that demolition may be the only scenario. “It is a two-family house. The victim lived at the rear where most of the damage can be seen. Fortunately, the resident of the other house was not at home.”
Whole pieces of furniture, clothes and other belongings were scattered around the house. The floor of the top floor came down, but strangely enough, a lot of it was still standing. “It’s almost cinematic to see,” says a close neighbor. “I spoke to the man yesterday. He talked about buying another car, but other than that I didn’t notice anything special.”
Whether it is a technical defect or a human error remains to be seen. Fluvius also arrived on site today to correctly disconnect the connections and all utilities.
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Tags: Man injured gas explosion Genk Fire brigade asked shower Genk
 seriously injured in gas explosion in Genk: “Fire brigade asked if they could use our shower” | Genk){kind=link}