according to a statement from Ministry of the Interior and the National Directorate of Firefighters of Uruguay, Eight people were injured, of whom three were referred to different care centres.
“An elderly couple who lived on the third floor, where the explosion occurred, are hospitalized in critical condition with burns between 40% and 80% of their bodies”they will be needed.
Meanwhile, “a third person was transferred to emergency services due to carbon monoxide poisoning,” he said.
National Director of Fire, ricardo rianoexplained that the explosion on the third floor caused a “very significant shock wave” that “affected four or five buildings with broken glass.”
Similarly, he assured that the exact cause of the incident will be investigated once necessary debris is removed and the safety of the place will be guaranteed.
The official warned that the damaged building had “structural collapse of part of the balcony and detachment of various materials” and remarked that since there is a risk of collapse of the “second and third floors”, the work should be done very carefully and wait. For investigation that can provide data to determine the origin.
“We had no previous complaints about the smell of gas,” Riano told local media of statements that assured authorities had been warned before the explosion.
Regarding the cause of the explosion, the official conceded that “it is more typical of an explosion in the atmosphere resulting from a gas leak, but we will investigate later, first we have to secure the area and obtain a thorough investigation.” Debris has to be removed.”
for its part, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, The director of Montevideo’s SAME (Emergency Medical Care System) confirmed that the two serious victims are older adults and that they were transferred to the hospital for burns, given the depth of the wounds.
In addition, he specified that a medical guard be placed at the accident site, to assist the working people, if necessary, tasks that would continue for at least several hours.
Working at the site is “a team of firefighters from Centenario Barracks and Carrasco Barracks, police officers from the Tenth Division, medical teams and administration personnel”, Uruguay’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.
