Dubai housemaid dies in gas explosion, and a rat's to blame

Rodent chewed through cylinder's tubes, causing leak in villa that injured another maid

Dubai Police confirmed on Thursday that a housemaid was killed following a gas cylinder explosion.

The explosion was a result of a rat tampering with the gas cylinder tubes in a kitchen of a villa in Dubai.

Captain Mohammed Ali Al Qasim, head of the criminal engineering department at Dubai Police, said that "the villa’s owner had warned his maids against using the stove in the kitchen after smelling a gas leak".

However, one of the maids entered the kitchen and ignited one of the burners, leading to the explosion that damaged the kitchen's walls, which eventually collapsed into her colleague's room. The maid was killed instantly, while the fire from the explosion caused moderate burns to the other maid.

Capt Al Qasim confirmed that this was not the first incident where rats have caused a gas leak. "A similar case was reported  in Al Tuwar area, but no fatalities were reported."

"The first six months of this year witnessed 68 fires in houses, compared to 160 house fires registered throughout last year."

He stated that most house fires were a result of faulty electrical connections, gas explosions and air-conditioning malfunctions.