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Journalists' family of 3 dead in Katowice gas explosion

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 24.10.2014 08:52
Two married journalists and their young son were found dead beneath rubble late on Thursday night following a gas explosion at a townhouse in Katowice, southern Poland.

Rubble
Rubble outside the rownhouse in Katowice. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

The victims were confirmed as Dariusz Kmiecik, a reporter for the private TVN station, and his wife Brygida Frosztega-Kmiecik, who worked for public broadcaster TVP, together with their two-year-old son.

Five people were hospitalised after the blast, which took place at about 5 am on Thursday.

Two patients have now been released, but one is still in a critical condition.

In total, 15 people were evacuated from the 19th century residential building, and fire-fighters have confirmed that their search is over.

Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz expressed her sympathies in Brussels, following the first day of a UN summit.

“I know that you lost a colleague there,” she told a reporter from TVN.

“My warmest sympathies – it must be difficult for you to be here [in Brussels],” she said.

Tenant eviction

Mayor of Katowice Piotr Uszok has revealed that most probably the explosion took place in the apartment of a man who was due to be evicted on Friday.

The man in question was the most severely injured of the survivors, and he is currently at a burns treatment clinic in Siemanowice Slaskie.

Supposedly the tenant's gas connection had been cut off prior to his eviction.

“We need to wait for the detailed findings of the prosecutor's office,” Mayor Uszok said. (nh)

Source: IAR


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