Residents of Changjalu in Thimphu woke up early from their sleep today at around 5 am when a sudden explosion with a loud noise occurred at one of the houses.
Although there were no casualties reported, the explosion destroyed 90 per cent of the property in which the incident occurred.
The residents found out that an explosion in one of the houses damaged walls and windows of a few units. They said, they are confused to what caused the explosion.
“We don’t know what caused the explosion. It came so strong. It damaged our windows. There wasn’t any fire. We thought it was thunderstone (Namcha) which they say is not true but the smell that was coming from the house was that of a strong smell of stones rubbed together. Luckily no one was at home where the explosion occurred. All their belongings starting from bed, everything is taken as scrap in a truck,” said Ugyen Pem, a resident of Changjalu.
“We woke up at 5 am in the morning. Later we heard a sound after which we all went out. While some said it’s an earthquake, some even said it is Sachhu. When we were out, the place was really dusty,” added Tshencho Drelma, also a resident of Changjalu.
According to Thimphu police, the probable cause of the explosion is deduced to be an accumulation of gas from LPG which was possibly ignited with a butter lamp in the altar room. They said one of the gas cylinders which the owner said was half-filled before she left was empty at the time of the investigation.
No one was inside the house at the time of the incident except for people in the upper unit. As per sources, the woman living in the flat where the explosion occurred left to Babesa to meet one of her daughters.
Police have ruled out any explosive device that could have led to the incident.
Samten Dolkar
