Attorneys, including Prakash Ramadhar, are now taking legal steps in the case involving the death of Ria George due to a gas tank explosion. They believe that gas companies have not done enough to protect their customers from harm, as they make suggestions on the way forward. Alicia Boucher has the details.
00:00Four people have died this year in incidents allegedly linked to gas tank explosions.
00:06Bebon Joseph, 28 years old. Raquel Babwa, 44 years old. Naomi Demil, age 19. And of course Rhea, 47.
00:21In the case of Rhea George, she was hospitalized on August 13th with burns to 80% of her body
00:27before she passed away on September 27th.
00:30Her husband, Rakesh George, has approached attorneys Prakash Ramada and Ted Rupnarain.
00:37Ramada notes the seriousness of the series of incidents and says George's death will not be swept under the carpet.
00:44We have already taken steps. First of all, to get permission from the court for him to be recognized
00:51as the administrator had liked him on behalf of his beloved wife, Rhea.
01:00That has already been done as the legal team proceeds with step two.
01:05If they have applied through the freedom of information to the chief fire officer, to the reporter,
01:11and to N.P. for information on these accidents as to what information they have in relation to the investigative reports.
01:25So we have already started the process to find the cause of this thing, in particular from Mr. George and his family.
01:35After examining the regulator on his own gas tank on Friday, Ramada noticed something of concern.
01:43There is no UL listing on this.
01:47There is no certification from any state agency or any lab, from Kariri, from Consumer Affairs, or anything.
01:57I asked state agencies whether any effort has been made over the years to ensure that these regulators, if they are imported, that they all meet minimum requirements.
02:13Ramada says companies that manufacture LPG tanks should have a say in the quality of regulators for the market.
02:19He notes that health warnings are legislatively placed on packs of cigarettes and suggests that the same should apply to gas tanks.
02:28Gas tanks are far more deadly.
02:33Cumulatively, cigarettes maybe.
02:35But the immediacy of the danger is real.
02:38And we've had it now in terms of these deaths.
02:42So we make a call.
02:43We are lawyers, yes, but we are citizens first.
02:45It's immediately for the gas companies to label their tanks on the tanks themselves, to print on it the warning that if one should smell gas or there's even a suspicion of gas, immediately not use it and how to deal with it.
02:59Ramada says gas companies who profit off their customers have a greater responsibility than they have been taking in ensuring the safe use of their products.
03:07The next steps will depend on the information received through the Freedom of Information requests now before NP and being prepared for the Chief Fire Officer and Ramco.
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