"Gas! Gas! Gas! Run!"
Those were the words which prompted Ann Marie Corbin, one of the survivors of yesterday's explosion at Kleen Rite Dry Cleaners at Mucurapo Road, St James, to run for her life.
Corbin and her co-workers all ran out just before Kleen Rite Dry Cleaners exploded and burst into flames which also later consumed Sherwin Williams Paint Ltd, the business next door.
Corbin, of Mt D'Or, and three others–wife of the owner of the dry cleaner, Sabreena Ali, of Chaguaramas; Shanelle Noel, of Laventille and Nirmala Jagdeo–all survived the blast which occurred at about 1.15 pm.
Noel, Jagdeo and Corbin were treated at the St James Infirmary for cuts and bruises they sustained from broken glass, while Ali was transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for further treatment. Medical sources confirmed that Ali sustained deep cuts and bruises.
According to a police report, a gas truck containing liquefied natural gas (LNG) was refuelling gas tanks behind Kleen Rite, which is along the Audrey Jeffers Highway, when the pump caught fire.
Kleen Rite was adjacent to the NP gas station on Mucurapo Road and on the other side was Sherwin Williams Paint Ltd. Behind the two establishments is an underground pipeline.
One of the two men who were refuelling the tanks was able to run inside Kleen Rite and alert its workers.
That man was identified as the same truck driver who was involved in last year's incident at El Pecos, Royal Palm Plaza, Maraval, where an explosion of a similar nature occurred.
That incident occurred on February 5, 2015 and 11 people were injured and had to be hospitalised. One of the victims in that explosion, John Knolly Soo Ping Chow, succumbed to his injuries on June 5.
Soo Ping Chow sustained the most serious injuries, with burns to about 25 per cent of his body. In 2014, an explosion also occurred at El Pecos' branch on Ariapita Avenue.
An official at North Plant–LPG confirmed it was the same worker who was involved in both incidents to CNC3.
The T&T Guardian was told that the driver was said to be in a state of shock and highly traumatised over the incident and could not be reached for comment up to late last night.
According to an eyewitness who asked not to be identified, the driver was standing looking on as his colleague was fixing the line.
"Then I heard a noise and I heard the one who was fixing the line say 'gas, gas' and the other man ran into the business place to give the warning for the workers to run for their lives," the eyewitness said.
Corbin, 54, said she had just entered the washroom when she also heard a strange noise.
"I now went in and heard a noise and before I know it I hear a man running and shouting 'gas, gas' and for us to run, so I just ran back outside and while we were running outside I just hear 'boom' and glass start to fly," Corbin said.
"It was four of us, including the boss' wife, who get cuts and bruises but we all are grateful and thankful to God for life and for saving us from serious injuries," she added.
The incident caused a major pile-up of traffic backing up along the Western Main Road.
Traffic heading east along the Audrey Jeffers Highway also had to be diverted onto the west-bound lane of the highway all the way to Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Motorists also were cautioned to turn around at Mucurapo Road and the Audrey Jeffers Highway and vehicles heading west from the highway were diverted onto Ariapita Avenue.
Investigations are ongoing.
Exercise extreme caution
General manager of Ramco Gas, Lochan Samsundar, last evening cautioned gas companies to exercise extreme caution and to ensure full safety was implemented when products were being discharged. He also encouraged all stakeholders to ensure safe operations.
"We are very concerned that such an incident has happened and we are looking on cautiously," Samsundar said.
National Petroleum Marketing Company, meanwhile, said its operation was in "no way involved" or affected by the fire at the Kleen Rite.
NP's communications director, Denise Caesar, said: "There was no fire on the site of the neighbouring NP Service Station and as a precaution the service station was evacuated and remains closed at this time (last night)."?