Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak vowed Wednesday that anyone found responsible for Tuesday’s deadly gas explosion in a restaurant will be held accountable
Wong made the pledge while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public function.
Wong remarks came after Tuesday night’s explosion in a Chinese restaurant in Areia Preta district which killed a woman and injured six other people.
The explosion occurred in the southern Fujianese eatery on the ground floor of Pak Lei Estate. According to the Fire Services Bureau, the blast was caused by the restaurant’s LPG cylinders.
After receiving a report about the blast at 9:47 p.m. on Tuesday, firemen found five injured restaurant patrons and later rescued a man and a woman who were trapped under a collapsed wall between the eatery and the lobby of Pak Lei Estate Block 2. About 50 people fled the restaurant when they heard a loud bang in the kitchen, sending glass shards and debris flying across the two-lane street and damaging several cars and scooters parked there.
In Cantonese, the restaurant is known as Hou Son Man Nam.
The seven people who were taken to the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre comprised three males and four females, aged between 34 and 54. The 34-year-old local woman who had been trapped under the wall was pronounced dead at the public hospital. She died due to serious internal and external injuries and multiple serious bone fractures.
The Health Bureau (SSM) said in a statement Wednesday night that two slightly injured victims were discharged from the public hospital yesterday after receiving medical treatment. The statement said that one of the victims, who sustained a serious thigh injury in the blast, underwent emergency surgery. Another patient who sustained second degree burns was still in the ICU last night. The other two injured need to remain hospitalised for further treatment, according to the statement.
Wednesday, Chief Executive Chui Sai On paid an inspection visit to the scene. He was accompanied by Wong, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng and a number of senior government officials.
Later, Chui, Wong and Tam went to the public hospital to visit the injured victims, accompanied by several other senior officials.
Speaking to reporters at the Macau Public Security Forces Academy, Wong said that a preliminary investigation by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) showed that the explosion was due to a gas leak caused by improper operation when “someone” changed LPG cylinders.
Wong stressed that the Fire Services Bureau (CB) was still investigating the exact cause of the explosion, adding that the Public Security Police (PSP) would draft an investigative report and submit it to the Public Prosecution Office (MP).
Wong pledged that if anyone is found to have committed a criminal offence concerning the case, the government would hold them accountable.
Also speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the two-day seminar at the Macau Public Security Forces Academy, Fire Services Bureau Commissioner Leong Iok Sam said that his bureau would announce the findings of the investigation once it is completed.
According to The Macau Post Daily a statement by the Government Spokesperson’s Office (GPV) said that Chui convened an inter-departmental meeting at Government Headquarters to discuss the government’s follow-up tasks in the aftermath of the explosion.
The meeting, chaired by Chui, was attended by Wong, Tam and about 10 other senior officials.
In the meeting, Chui ordered relevant government officials to confirm the exact cause of the blast as soon as possible.
