Tunisia – Explosion and fire at Rades gas terminal: possibility of premeditated act ruled out for moment

The president and general manager of the National Oil Distribution Company (Agil), Khaled Baltin, announced today, Thursday March 14, 2024, that: “The blast which took place in the oil region of Radès, in principle, was not caused deliberately… and the fire broke out at a specific time… while waiting for the search to be finished.”

Baltin emphasised that the fire broke out at the warehouse, more precisely in the third gas cylinder filling line, revealing that the fire was brought under control thanks to the intervention of civil protection units with the help and efforts of the staff and executives of the SNDP, and the wounded were transferred to the Ben Arous burns hospital and from there to other hospitals.

The fire caused the burns of 34 people, of variable severity, without any deaths, of which 25 are in stable condition and 4 are in the intensive care unit, according to what Khaled Baltin confirmed.

For his part, the spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said that preliminary data shows that there was a gas leak in one of the pipes intended for filling domestic gas cylinders.

The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mines confirmed that an inquiry has been opened to determine the circumstances of this accident.

Remark that the Minister of the Interior, Kamel Feki, arrived on the scene, accompanied by the Director General of the National Office of Civil Protection and the Director General of National Security, to examine the incident and monitor the work of the above-mentioned units. Security units, in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, opened a judicial investigation to determine the causes of the incident.