At least 42 people suffered minor injuries in a blast in an underground fuel reservoir at a petrol and service station in the city early yesterday. The incident took place at 5.10am. Many of those injured were labourers being transported to their work site in a bus, which partly fell into the large hole created by the powerful blast. The bus was partly damaged. The injured included a Nepalese employee of the petrol station (Teyseer Service Centre), which is located between The Mall and Kahramaa roundabouts. The road links the D Ring Road and E Ring Road. The other injured were Indians, Nepalese and Bangladeshi nationals. They were rushed for emergency medical care. Some of them were briefly treated at the trauma centre of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). One car was also partly damaged in the blast. So powerful was the explosion that the reservoir caved in, leading to the collapse of the false ceilings in nearby structures. Five of the six shops within the premises of the petrol station were partly damaged. “The false ceiling in our shop (Rafa Supermarket) fell down due to the impact,” said Riyas P V, a partner in the supermarket. According to him, the damaged area of the petrol station had three reservoirs. The blast took place in one of them, ripping off the covers of the other two reservoirs as well. A Baskin Robbins outlet within the premises of the petrol station was not damaged. The blast could have occurred due to increased pressure in the fuel tank, said a source. No estimates of losses suffered by the petrol station or the shops were available until the time of going to press. The Civil Defence department confirmed the incident in a statement to Qatar News Agency. “We rushed our teams to the site. Also present were personnel from Traffic department and Al Fazaa,” the statement added. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=October2009&file=Local_News2009101513625.xml

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