Two charged with negligence in Tbilisi residential home explosion given pretrial detention
The two individuals have pleaded not guilty and plan to appeal the court decision. Photo: IPN
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A Tbilisi court has given two individuals charged with negligence for their responsibility in failing to detect a gas leak in a residential home in Tbilisi to pre-trial detention.
The explosion took place on 16 January, killing four and injuring eight.
The two individuals have pleaded not guilty and plan to appeal the court decision.
The next trial date has been scheduled for 14 March.
“They are charged with negligence, facing two to five years of imprisonment. When they arrived at the spot there was no smell of gas and the equipment showed that there was no leak”, lawyer Tamar Japaridze said before today’s court session.
The defence earlier requested that bail be granted and set at 50,000 for Vazel Mamamdiani and 10,000 for Tornike Tatishvili while the prosecutor requested detention.
17 January was observed as a day of national mourning.
Three victims of the explosion, Natia Tsitsvidze, her four-year-old daughter and her sister Nino Tsitsvidze, were buried today.
Two employees of the KazTransGas company have been detained for negligence and their responsibility for the deadly blast in Tbilisi on 16 January, killing four and leaving eight others injured. The Georgian Interior Ministry says that V.M., 61, and T.T., 27, employees KazTransGas Tbilisi, were called by residents of the building where the explosion took place on 16 January.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has stated that it is not the responsibility of Tbilisi City Hall to check the safety of natural gas networks, responding to speculations that the 16 January deadly explosion in the Didi Digomi district of Tbilisi was the fault of the local authorities.
The Energy Ombudsman of Georgia Salome Vardiashvili has begun studying the case of yesterday’s powerful explosion in a residential building in Tbilisi’s Didi Digomi district.
Georgia has received condolences from foreign officials and states in the wake of a deadly blast in Tbilisi yesterday which claimed four lives and left eight others injured.
Flags on all government buildings across Georgia and diplomatic missions abroad are flying at half staff today as 17 January has been declared a day of mourning in recognition of those who died in a powerful explosion in a residential building last night in Tbilisi’s Didi Digomi district.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has started an investigation into a gas explosion case which killed four people including a four-year-old child on 16 January in Tbilisi.
Four people have been killed and at least four injured in a powerful explosion in the Didi Digomi district of Tbilisi about two hours ago.
Seven people have died as a result of a carbon monoxide leak in a Tbilisi apartment located at 67 Ketevan Tsamebuli Avenue.
Eight people including a seven-month-old child were injured in an explosion in Tbilisi’s Digomi district this morning. The explosion happened on the fourth floor of a five-storey residential building, allegedly because of a gas leak.
The anti-corruption agency of Georgia’s state security service has charged the former and current directors of the Gori municipality culture and tourism department promotion agency for the neglect of official duties, the state authority announced on Friday.