Bulgaria ready to help treat 17 injured in recent gas station explosion in Romania

"We are ready to treat 17 of the victims of the explosion in Romania," Health Minister Hristo Hinkov told journalists here Sunday. 

Specialists, equipment and beds have been provided, emergency teams have been formed to ensure their transportation to hospitals, he added. The Health Minister also said the injured could be transported by helicopters once they are stabilized and their condition allows them to travel to Bulgaria. 

Seven of the injured can be accommodated in the Military Medical Academy in Varna (on the Black Sea), six in Sofia's Pirogov emergency hospital and two each in private hospitals in Plovdiv (South Bulgaria) and Ruse (on the Danube). All the injured are in a serious condition, with burns exceeding 50% of their total body surface area, he added. 

A total of 58 people were injured in explosions and a fire at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station in Crevedia (South Romania) Satruday night, 43 of them Interior Ministry employees: 39 firefighters, two policemen and two gendarmes, according to data from the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, cited by the Ziare news website. Eight people were reported injured in the first explosion and 50 in the second one. 

The initial request to us was to help treat eight people, but later this number increased, said Hinkov, adding that no Bulgarians are reported injured, according to the Bulgarian Consulate in Romania. 

Deputy Health Minister Boyko Penkov said that a request for help had been made under the management of disasters and emergencies in Europe programme and Bulgaria immediately started preparing to accept injured people from Romania. He pointed out that the possibilities were carefully assessed and Bulgaria, with a lot of effort, has managed to provide 17 intensive care beds in the burn clinics. 

Penkov said that there was a similar wave of sympathy from other countries. Germany has provided three beds, other countries have provided one or two each. "We, as friendly and bordering countries and nations, have done our utmost to ease their system as well and take in more people," the Deputy Health Minister added.

Penkov said the Interior Ministry will organize police escorts to transport the wounded faster when they land at Bulgarian airports. He added that the airport in Ruse is under renovation, but nevertheless conditions have been created to allow for helicopter landings.