Four killed, Eight injured after a powerful explosion in Tbilisi
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, January 18
Four people, a 4-year-child among them, died and eight received injuries after the powerful explosion in the Didi Digomi district of Tbilisi late on Wednesday.
The mother of the child also died and his two siblings and aunt are being treated in hospitals.
The explosion took place on the sixth floor of the nine-storey building.
Six among the injured were minors.
Five were discharged from the Iashvili Clinic on Thursday.
January 17 was declared as a mourning day in Georgia.
Georgia received condolences from dozens of foreign states.
The possible reason for the explosion is a gas leak.
Residents told the media that there was a strong gas smell present in the building throughout the day. Employees of gas provider company Kaztransgas came to the building to check for a leak but left the scene after finding that nothing was wrong with the gas infrastructure.
The people have been questioned.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who visited the injured children late on Wednesday, stated that their lives were not at risk.
Georgian Prime Minister and Tbilisi Mayor spent several hours at the scene.
Two months ago a similar explosion took place in the Ortachala District of Tbilisi when a mother and an infant died.
No one has been punished for the fatality so far.
