Evacuated Buri village residents returned to their homes
Manama : The residents of Buri village who were evacuated from their homes last night began returning to their houses today morning. Hundreds of residents fled their homes due to the huge blaze that hit a pipeline which exploded on the southern sides of the village.
DT News visited the village, which is now awakening from the shock of an accident that “could have turned catastrophic” according to the residents of the village.
The residents were evacuated from the village by the Civil Defence firefighters last night as the pipeline continued burning for a couple of hours before it was controlled in cooperation with the officials and technicians of Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco).
Sayed Mohammed who lives near the site of the accident told DT News today morning that the incident took place at around 10 pm.
“This was a massive blaze. We have never witnessed anything similar before in Bahrain. Luckily, only property damages were reported. All of us left our homes with our valuable belongings and important official documents. We also removed all the gas cylinders to prevent any further damages from occurring. Many others, especially bachelor expatriate workers, were sheltered at Buri Elementary Girls’ School.”
One of the residents of the village was seen using his truck today to deliver the gas cylinders which were kept safe at an open yard that is far away from the accident site.
At least six houses and seven vehicles were damaged by the scorching heat, while several houses and cars were affected by the scattered crude oil drops.
“The Sky was burning and it was raining oil,” another resident Mohammed Jawad said.
Dr. Radhika Lekshmi and her husband lived around 100 metres away from the site. She recalled the horrific moments of the accident saying, “The sound of the explosion shook the windows and doors of the house. We saw the huge flame pillar and rushed to my workplace, Al Amal Hospital, which is not far away from where we live. We have spent the night there, along with other residents, until the situation was controlled, and we have returned home today morning. It was a night of horror.”
According to Interior Ministry, the fire was controlled at around 2 am. The ministry also explained in a statement issued last night that “Bapco officials stopped the flow of oil through the affected pipeline immediately following notification of the incident”.
The area remains closed until the moment this report was written. Traffic police is blocking Wali Al Ahd Highway between the roundabout at the entrance of Hamad Town and the one near Buri.
The residents thanked the efforts of the Civil Defence firemen who spent hours dousing the fire and dealt professionally with the matter.
Related Posts