By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 07 Sep 2018 • 9:01
EXPLOSION: A lit cigarette and gas canisters caused huge damage in Mijas Credit Shutterstock (File Image)
MALAGA’S Provincial Court has sentenced a defendant to pay a €1,800 fine after finding him criminally responsible for a gas explosion in Mijas caused by a lit cigarette. The Second Section of the court also ruled the man had to compensate the owners of flats in the tower block where the blast took place over the resulting damage. Assessments suggest the explosion destroyed more than €190,000 worth of property. The court heard the defendant had taken two butane canisters into the bedroom of his flat in the building in January 2002. The court’s ruling stated defendant had been “extraordinarily foolish” when he decided to light a cigarette while in the same room as the canisters. The judges presiding added he had failed to take “the most elementary” precautions to ensure gas was not leaking from the cylinders. The resulting blast ripped through five floors of the building, causing damage to other flats and three vehicles. Expert assessments place the value of the resulting destruction at €193,300. The court ruled the defendant will have to pay a daily fine of €10 per day for six months, €1,800 in total. He has also accepted that he will have to pay part of a compensation payout to those whose flats and vehicles were affected by the blast. A portion of the cost is set to be assumed by an insurance company.
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