In Georgia, tenants of damaged house report gas inspections an hour before explosion

On the day of the explosion on the outskirts of Tbilisi, tenants of a nine-storey building several times called the emergency service because of the smell of gas at the block. However, officers of the emergency service did not detect any gas leak.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 16, on the outskirts of Tbilisi, an explosion in a nine-storey building killed four persons, including a child who died in hospital. As of January 17, a child and two adults still stayed in hospitals.

"Tenants called the emergency service. A young man who came to check gas pipes laughed at us. Meanwhile, there was the smell of gas at the block during the whole day," said Vladimir Kharashvili, a tenant of the block, in which the explosion occurred (translation from Georgian was made by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent). "The explosion occurred an hour after men from the emergency service left the place," the man said.

Shota Katsitadze, another tenant of the house, confirmed that emergency service officers did not detect any gas leak. According to the tenant, the strong smell of gas stayed at the block starting from the morning, and tenants called the emergency service. However, officers of the emergency service "said no problems had been found, everything was fine." The man noted that the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors of the block had been severely damaged in the explosion.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 18, 2019 at 01:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.