A COUPLE was seriously injured on Wednesday morning after a gas bottle exploded at their Lot 45 Railway Road, Campbellville, Georgetown home.

Reports indicate that the explosion occurred at 05: 20hrs at the bottom flat of the building, which the husband and wife are renting.

The explosion caused the wooden walls to crumble and the exterior step leading to the upstairs of the house was also blown off. The injured couple was identified as 39-year-old Rabi Hemraj and 36-year-old Meera Hemraj. They received burns about their bodies. The duo were escorted to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where they were treated and admitted to the burns unit; their condition was listed as stable.

The occupant in the upper flat said that he was in his room sleeping when he heard a loud explosion from the lower flat in the kitchen area. A neighbour then quickly informed him not to use the door, since the stairs were blown off. Another neighbour then assisted the man in the upper flat by breaking a window and placing a ladder to allow persons to escape from the burning building.

He also equipped himself with a fire extinguisher to douse the fire on the injured persons. The man in the upper flat said he saw the victims with injuries about their bodies; he then observed that there was a gas bottle in the kitchen next to the injured couple, which he suspected was the cause of the explosion. The police removed the bottle from the scene.