Three detained in Rahova explosion accused of failing to fulfill their duties
Uncategorized

Three detained in Rahova explosion accused of failing to fulfill their duties

The Bucharest Court of Appeal Prosecutor’s Office said that in the criminal case investigating the circumstances of the explosion that took place on October 17 in an apartment building located in the Rahova neighborhood of Bucharest, which resulted in the death of three people, bodily injury to 15 others, the destruction or rendering unusable of 54 apartments, as well as the destruction or damage of 30 cars, prosecutors have ordered a criminal investigation into the crime of negligent destruction resulting in a disaster.

Two legal entities are under investigation, one of which is a natural gas distribution operator and the other an economic operator authorized by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) to execute natural gas installations, as well as three individuals, one of whom is an employee of the natural gas operator, and the other two are employees of the economic operator authorized by ANRE for the execution of natural gas installations.

At the same time, the three suspects, natural persons, were placed in preventive detention for 24 hours, and subsequently, criminal proceedings were initiated against them for the offense of negligent destruction resulting in a disaster.

„With regard to these three defendants, who are natural persons, a proposal for preventive arrest for a period of 30 days was made, and the competent judge of rights and freedoms was notified. With regard to the economic operator authorized by ANRE to carry out natural gas installations, the competent judge of rights and freedoms was asked to impose a preventive measure prohibiting, for a period of 60 days, the carrying out of activities of the kind in which the offense was committed. From the investigations carried out so far, the prosecutors’ orders essentially stated that, between October 16 and 17, 2025, by violating legal provisions or work instructions, both the suspect legal entities and the accused individuals, culpably failed to properly fulfill their legal or work obligations regarding the identification of the type of defect in the natural gas supply system of the building located in Bucharest, Vicina Street, Sector 5, with the consequence of not preventing the accumulation of gas in the building and causing an explosion on October 17, 2025, at 09:08, which resulted in the death of 3 people, bodily injury to 15 people, the destruction or rendering unusable of 54 apartments, as well as the destruction or damage of 30 cars,” prosecutors said.

The individual, an employee of the distribution operator, was charged with the following: on October 16, between 7:54 a.m. and 9:19 a.m., following an emergency call regarding a gas smell at the building on Vicina Street, Sector 5, „he culpably failed to properly perform his duties as set out in the work instructions, in that he did not identify the type of defect in the building’s natural gas supply system (defect in the natural gas distribution network), did not take safety measures, and did not communicate with his superiors to decide on the method of securing the site.”

„The accusation brought against the authorized operator ANRE, as well as the defendants employed by the company, concerns the fact that they failed to fulfill their obligations to immediately notify the distribution operator, locate the defect, and remain in the area until the natural gas had been completely removed from the building and the distribution operator’s team had arrived, as well as to extend the inspection to the entire area where natural gas infiltration was possible. Finally, it was noted that the natural gas distribution operator, having been called four times for emergency interventions at the building on Vicina Street, Sector 5, between 16.10.2025, 07:08 – 17.10.2025, at 08:44, failed to properly fulfill its legal obligation to maintain the natural gas distribution system in safe conditions, by not identifying the type of defect in the natural gas supply system of the building, did not send an intervention team to the scene of the incident to take the emergency measures provided for in the event of natural gas leaks in a building, and did not ensure the operational dispatch of telephone reports on the morning of October 17, 2025,” according to prosecutors.

In this case, eight searches were carried out (at the premises of two legal entities and the homes of six individuals), following which several records, documents, and storage media were seized, which will be used during the criminal investigation.

The case is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Romanian Police General Inspectorate, with the support of judicial police officers from the Bucharest Police General Directorate – Homicide Service and the Negligent Injury and Manslaughter Service.