Two killed, 120 wounded in Abu Dhabi gas explosion, police say

Debris covers the street after an explosion in the Khalidiya district of Abu Dhabi, UAE, Monday, May 23, 2022. (Abu Dhabi Police/AP)

• Civil defense firefighters managed to contain the fire, which damaged several shops and the facades of six buildings

ABU DHABI/DUBAI: Two people were killed and 120 injured in a gas cylinder explosion in a restaurant in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, police said.
Initial reports “showed that 64 people sustained minor injuries, 56 others were moderately wounded, and two people died,” police tweeted.
The blast on Monday set off a fire that damaged the facades of six buildings and a number of stores before being brought under control, they added.
The explosion struck a restaurant just after 1 p.m. in Abu Dhabi’s Khalidiya neighborhood, just a few blocks from the capital’s beachfront corniche.
Four of the damaged buildings were “safely” evacuated, with efforts underway to find their residents temporary housing “until the buildings are completely secured,” the police said.
“The injured were transferred to the hospital to receive necessary health care, with material damage to shops and facades of six buildings,” the police said. They described an investigation into the blast as ongoing.
Pictures released by Abu Dhabi police showed first responders tending to a person on a gurney, and debris and broken glass strewn across the pavement.
A witness told The National newspaper that he heard two explosions around lunchtime.
“The first sound was small and people started calling the fire and police,” said the man, who was not identified.
“Then soon, there was a big blast. It was a really big sound. The windows shook and in some offices, the windows shattered.”
The authorities gave no indication of foul play.
However, the UAE has been on heightened alert since a Yemen militant drone and missile attack killed three oil workers in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 17.
Authorities have since thwarted three similar attacks, including one claimed by a little-known militant group believed to have ties with pro-Iran armed factions in Iraq.
The UAE is part of a coalition that has been fighting in Yemen since 2015 to support the government against Iran-backed Houthi militia, who control the capital Sanaa.
The UAE, a federation of seven desert sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, does face seasonal fires brought on by the intense heat that bakes this nation each summer. Temperatures hit 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
(With AFP and AP)