DUBAI // An open valve on a gas oven was behind the deadly explosion at a flat in the Al Khail Gate community last month.
Mohammed Abu Eita, of the forensics engineering unit at Dubai Police, said investigation results showed that gas mixed with oxygen in the flat to cause the explosion that killed a woman and injured another woman and a baby.
“The atmosphere in the flat reached a critical limit, which any spark, whether from a flame or switching on the light, would have resulted in an explosion,” he said. “We checked the gas canister and the two points of the tube connecting the canister with the oven but all was in order, until we realised that one of the knobs on the stove was switched on.
“The gas was being emitted from the front-left burner.”
Mr Abu Eita said the explosion blew out the walls of flat 503 as well as one side of the wall of flat 504 in building 39 of the development in Al Quoz.
“If the residents were within explosion range, they would have been blown out of the flat,” said Mr Abu Eita.
“There must have been a strong smell in the flat, so it is a possibility the residents were sleeping.”
He urged residents to always make sure their gas knobs were switched off, adding that a further step would be to switch off the valve on the gas canister.
dmoukhallati@thenational.ae
UAE rugby in numbers
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Monday Celta Vigo v Cadiz (midnight)
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UK
Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
Germany
Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
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