Company knew gas blast pipeline ‘was faulty’

21 March 2005

BRUSSELS – A gas pipe which exploded in the Belgian town of Ghislenghien last July, killing 24 people, had to be repaired just two hours before the accident, it emerged on Monday.

Eight months after the disaster of 30 July, the cause of the explosion is still unclear and blame has been laid at the door of Belgian gas distributor Fluxys, which was responsible for the gas pipe, and Diamond Board, a diamond-cutting company building a factory at the site.

The revelation that the pipe had needed repair the day of the accident was included in an internal Diamond Board obtained by public service broadcaster RTBF.

The report also confirms previous assertions that before the pipe exploded, when gas was detected, successive managers passed the buck, wasting vital time.

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Belgian news