An explosion caused by a gas leak at the metro station of Plaça de Sants, in Barcelona, left eight people injured on Wednesday night, two of them seriously. The incident occurred while work was being carried out to repair a damaged pipeline during accessibility works, according to information provided by emergency services and the Firefighters of Barcelona.
Although the situation was brought under control after the intervention of emergency teams, authorities have opened an investigation to determine what exactly caused the explosion. These are the main keys to what happened.
What happened at the Plaça de Sants station?
The deflagration was recorded around 10:50 PM at one of the accesses to the Plaça de Sants station, corresponding to line 5 of the Barcelona Metro. According to the Firefighters of Barcelona and the Medical Emergency System (SEM), it was a deflagration related to a gas leak that was being repaired at that moment.
The incident took place outside the station, in an area where accessibility improvement works were being carried out and where a gas pipeline had been detected as faulty during the afternoon.
Why was there a gas leak?
The leak was located around 2:40 PM on Wednesday after a pipe was damaged during the works. Since that moment, teams from the Firefighters of Barcelona and technicians from the supplying company had been working in the area to control the leak and repair the pipeline.
It was during those tasks that the deflagration occurred. For the moment, authorities have not specified what exactly triggered the explosion or if there was any additional factor that favored the accident.
What is the balance of injuries?
The official balance provided by the Medical Emergency System is eight injured people, all of whom were workers participating in the tasks related to the incident.
Two of the affected were transferred in serious condition to Vall d'Hebron Hospital. In addition, three other people were injured less seriously —two evacuated also to Vall d'Hebron and one to the Clínic Hospital— while the remaining three injured had minor injuries and were treated at the Clínic Hospital.
What resources participated in the emergency?
After the explosion, a wide emergency device was activated. The Firefighters of Barcelona mobilized nine units to control the fire and ensure the safety of the area, while the SEM deployed eight ambulances and an advanced medical center to attend to the injured.
The Urban Guard cordoned off the surroundings and cut off traffic to facilitate the intervention of the emergency teams and secure the perimeter while the extinguishing and repair tasks continued.
What is being investigated now?
The authorities have opened an investigation to clarify the exact causes of the explosion. What is confirmed is that the gas pipeline had been damaged during some works and that the explosion occurred while work was being done to repair that breakdown.
The Firefighters also explained that, while gas continued to leak from the pipe, the priority was to control the leak before completely extinguishing the flames, in order to avoid new risks during the intervention.