Gas blasts kill couple & injure 56

A pair of massive explosions at an unlicensed liquified petroleum plant in Romania killed at least two people and injured 56 others — including 39 first responders.

The first blast rattled the town of Crevedia, near the capital of Bucharest, and forced authorities to evacuate nearby homes and shut down local traffic as the flames spread to two fuel tanks, according to a report by the BBC.

The second explosion sent a mammoth mushroom cloud high into the sky — and injured more than two dozen firefighters who had responded to the scene, officials told the news outlet.

Two people — a couple who were not identified — were killed while others, including several police officers, were listed in critical condition, some with severe burns.

“We think four of the patients will be more than certainly be transferred tonight to hospitals in Italy and Belgium,” Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told reporters early Sunday.

Romanian Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said the plant was not licensed to operate.

In a Facebook post, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis offered his condolences.

“At the moment, the zero priority is to provide those affected with all the necessary support and facilitate their access to emergency treatment,” he wrote. “As soon as the situation in the at-risk area is stabilized, an investigation must be swiftly launched to find out whether the law and regulations have been breached.

“I ask the authorities to take immediate measures for the injured so that the tragedies of the past will not repeat,” Iohannis added.

Liquified petroleum gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases that’s popular in Eastern Europe as a cheaper alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel. But it is highly combustible.