ALBAWABA - According to civil protection officials, an explosion at a gas depot outside Tunisia's capital on Thursday injured 35 people, four of whom were seriously injured.
"Around 6:15 am, a gas leak caused the explosion of gas cylinders in the premises of a distribution company in the oil field in Rades", southeast of Tunis, civil protection spokesperson Moez Triaa told AFP.
All of the injuries were hospitalized after suffering first- and second-degree burns, with four of them in intensive care, he added. The energy ministry said in a statement that the fire at the Agil energy company's gas depot in Rades was eventually put out.
The energy ministry's statement noted that an investigation had been launched to ascertain "the circumstances of this incident," but did not specify the magnitude of the damage caused.
Agil, Tunisia's largest fuel distribution company, has a network of more than 250 petrol stations throughout the North African country, according to AFP.
