Investigations are ongoing into a gas cylinder explosion that destroyed a section of a Pineapple Street, East Ruimveldt home on Sunday morning, leaving 56-year-old Troy Alleyne hospitalised with multiple burns and in critical but more responsive condition.
Alleyne was at home with his wife, Melissa, and their two children when the blast occurred. He was the only one to sustain injuries.
According to Melissa Alleyne, she was awakened in the early hours by the strong smell of cooking gas and immediately alerted her husband, who went downstairs to the kitchen on the lower flat to investigate. Moments later, the house was rocked by a powerful explosion.
“I was upstairs, and couple seconds after boom! All I seeing is red and everything moving — like flame red and everything moving,” she recalled, adding that she grabbed her children and fled to safety while her husband bore the full impact of the blast below.
Troy Alleyne was rescued with multiple burns to his body and rushed to hospital. Despite his critical condition, he has since become more responsive and was able to provide his wife with details about what occurred.
“Troy tell me is downstairs by we, in we kitchen the hose been leaking,” Melissa said, indicating that a faulty gas hose is believed to have been the source of the leak that preceded the explosion.
Based on preliminary investigations, authorities believe that gas which had accumulated in the atmosphere may have been ignited when Alleyne flipped the switch on the gas stove. A damaged gas cylinder hose is suspected to have caused the leak.
The Guyana Fire Service is currently conducting a formal investigation into the cause of the explosion.
