UP chemist debunks PNP's 'gas leak' theory in mall blast

Diesel fumes ignited by a spark from a switch was not likely the cause of the massive blast that rocked the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City last week, a University of the Philippines’s (UP) top chemist said. GMA’s Unang Balita on Wednesday quoted Dr. Ernesto dela Cruz, chairman of UP Chemical Engineering Department, as saying that it was highly improbable that diesel fumes caused the explosion, contrary to the theory being pursued by police investigators. Dela Cruz said it was almost impossible to have an accumulation of diesel fumes in the mall basement, saying diesel will not evaporate until it reaches the temperature of 210 degrees Celsius which is hotter than boiling water. Also, Dela Cruz said that from what he saw from footages taken shortly after the explosion, the smoke emanating from the blast site was “white smoke". If it were a diesel explosion, the smoke should have been black, Dela Cruz said. “Hindi kasi basta-bastang mag-e-evaporate ang diesel e. Iyong sinasabing pagkakaroon ng diesel fumes, very remote ang ganoong possibility," Dela Cruz said. According to police investigators, diesel fumes and methane gas that have accumulated in the mall basement could have triggered the blast, after these were ignited by a spark from a switch in the basement. This angle has led to the theory that the blast was accidental. In the interview, Dela Cruz said the theory that methane gas fueled the explosion was more believable compared to the “diesel fumes" angle, although he also expressed reservations on this possibility. “It (methane) may also lead to an explosion but we’re wondering if it can lead to an explosion of that magnitude," Dela Cruz said. The explosion caused massive damage to the mall’s structures, and left 11 people dead and 112 others injured while three people remain missing. The Department of Interior and Local Government’s Inter-Agency Arson Task Force also shared Dela Cruz’s sentiment that diesel was the unlikely cause of the blast. Superintendent Fennimore Jaudian, chief of the task force maintained that methane gas from the mall’s septic tank was the probable cause of the explosion. He noted that an explosion of methane gas in pipes located inside the mall may also have caused the second and much-weaker blast that occurred over the weekend. “We’re looking at that angle that when you pump out the liquid (from the septic tank), the air that saturates the basement room could enter the tank itself through the exhaust pipes," Jaudian said. Earlier, Jaudian said the “physical effects" of the blast point to a methane gas explosion, noting that methane gas could come from the sewage system at the basement of Glorietta 2 where a diesel tank is also located. Jaudian said the “methane gas explosion" angle has figured consistently in investigation conducted by his team composed of investigators from the Bureau of Fire Protection and the National Bureau of Investigation. Jaudian is an arson expert whose team was responsible for solving the Superferry 14 bombing in February 2004 and the fire that gutted the old Commission on Elections building in Intramuros, Manila early this year. - GMANews.TV