Bulgarian blast after train derailment kills 5, injures 27

At least 20 buildings in a village were destroyed when gas containers exploded at 5.40 a.m. local time (0340 GMT)

An aerial view shows the site where a train transporting LNG derailed and exploded in the northeastern Bulgarian village of Hitrino on December 10, 2016. At least five people died and 27 were injured in the blast, emergency services said. Around 20 homes were smashed and many of the residents of the village of some 800 people were evacuated.

Five people were killed in northeastern Bulgaria following a gas explosion on a derailed tanker train early Saturday, national radio reported. Officials said at least 27 people were injured, many with severe burns.

Nikolay Nikolov, who heads the country’s firefighting department, said at least 20 buildings in the village of Hitrino were destroyed when containers of gas exploded at 5-40 a.m. local time (0340 GMT).

Two tank cars, carrying propane-butane and propylene, derailed at the station in Hitrino, hit electricity lines and exploded, police officials said. The engine driver survived and has been questioned, police said.

Officials earlier had described the cargo as liquefied natural gas.

Many houses on fire

Video footage from the scene showed many houses in the village of 800 on fire and ambulances taking the injured to hospitals.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, who arrived at the site of the blast, urged citizens to donate blood to address shortages at nearby hospitals.

“There will be more casualties,” Mr. Borisov told reporters.

The train had been traveling from the Bulgarian Black Sea port city of Burgas to the Danubian city of Ruse.