Overview
- A tunnelling machine working on MetroGAS network renewal damaged a medium‑pressure gas pipe in Remedios de Escalada, triggering a massive leak that exploded on Friday morning and tore through the commercial intersection of Coronel Beltrán and Del Valle Iberlucea.
- The municipal tally stands at one confirmed death and roughly 30 injured, seven of them in serious condition, with severe burn cases sent to Hospital Evita and other local hospitals for urgent care.
- Firefighters and MetroGAS crews reported that the leak was cut during the madrugada of Nov. 14 and that the blaze was extinguished, allowing teams to start structural, toxicology and pericial inspections and to assist evacuated residents to return home.
- The Unidad Fiscal de Instrucción N.º 6 opened a criminal probe focused on whether company staff alerted local emergency services quickly enough after detecting the escape, and the fiscal ordered the delay or detention of two MetroGAS executives while pericias proceed.
- Regulators including ENReGE will carry out siniestro audits for the judiciary, and investigators’ findings on protocol breaches could lead to criminal charges, fines and tighter controls on outsourced gas‑works procedures.