The Bureau of Fire Protection Makati (BFP-Makati) said a cook of the Indian restaurant that exploded over the weekend "accidentally" left open their LPG (liquified petroleum gas) tank.
Superintendent Ian Guerrero, BFP-Makati chief, identified the cook of the New Bombay Restaurant as Marvin Santos.
Based on their probe, fire investigators learned that Santos was preparing their charcoal for their food service that day when the accident happened.
“The cook set aside the charcoal that he prepared. He thought that their LPG tank (50 kilograms) ran out of gas so he detached the gas hose, oblivious that he did not close the tank,” he said in Filipino.
“This caused the gas to leak. He told us that when he noticed that it leaked, he ran away and left it,” Guerrero added.
The fumes of the LPG tank accumulated in the restaurant and the charcoal that Santos prepared ignited the explosion, the Makati-BFP chief said.
He said that the explosion occurred around 9: 50 a.m., few minutes before the Indian restaurant opened.
The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Columns Building in Barangay San Antonio, Makati.
The glass walls of the restaurant got shattered by the strong explosion, luckily no one was injured.
Due to the ongoing probe, Guerrero said that the restaurant will not yet resume its operations.
He said that they are still studying what are the possible cases that they will file.
“The New Bombay Restaurant has complete requirements to operate,” he added.
BFP-Makati said that the damage is pegged at around P150, 000.