A court in Shchuchinsk has handed down a verdict in the case of the explosion at the "Center of Plov" café. During the proceedings, the circumstances of the incident, the cause of the gas leak, and the actions of three individuals involved in the café's operation and the supply of gas cylinders were established.

In the Akmola Region, the high-profile criminal case regarding the explosion at the "Center of Plov" café in Shchuchinsk, which claimed the lives of 12 people, has been concluded. The court found the café owner, the director of an auto gas filling station, and the gas cylinder supplier guilty.

The café owner and the gas station director were each sentenced to seven years in prison, while the cylinder supplier received six years. The charges were brought under Part 3 of Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan – provision of services that do not meet safety requirements for the life or health of consumers, when negligently resulting in harm to the health of more than two persons and causing death.

The investigation into the circumstances of the incident lasted nearly four months.

According to the case files, one of the gas cylinders was located in the corridor of the kitchen area. After its wall ruptured, a gas leak occurred, resulting in the formation of an explosive gas-air mixture inside the premises.

At the first court hearing, the defendants offered their apologies to the families of the deceased and the injured, but did not admit guilt.

One of the victims testified in court that he had virtually no memory of the explosion itself.

The state prosecutor in court outlined the technical cause of the explosion. – "The technical cause of the explosion was the formation of an explosive gas-air mixture in a separate room of the 'Center of Plov' café, resulting from a gas leak caused by the rupture of the wall of a gas cylinder located in the corridor of the kitchen area," the prosecutor specified.

In addition to holding specific individuals criminally liable, the court drew attention to the organization of preventive work in the field of fire safety. A private ruling was issued to the Akim (Governor) of the Akmola Region. It highlighted deficiencies in preventive efforts and interagency coordination in ensuring fire safety at public catering establishments.

It should be recalled that the tragedy occurred in a single-story building of the café, which was attached to a residential house. After the explosion, a fire broke out. During rescue operations, emergency services personnel discovered five gas cylinders with a capacity of 50 liters each and two oxygen cylinders on the premises. All containers were removed from the building, as they posed an additional hazard under fire and collapse conditions.

Immediately after the incident, five people died at the scene, and two more succumbed to their injuries en route to medical facilities. The injured were distributed among hospitals in the region – some patients were in intensive care in serious or extremely critical condition, while others received outpatient treatment. Five of the most severely injured victims were transported to Astana by air ambulance.

By order of the then Minister for Emergency Situations, Lieutenant General Chingis Arinov, an interagency commission was established. The pre-trial investigation was conducted by special prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office of the Akmola Region.

Following the tragedy, financial assistance was provided to the families of the deceased and the injured. According to Aray Sadykov, the Akim of the district, the relatives of the deceased were entitled to a one-time payment of two million tenge, while the injured were to receive one million tenge each.

Linara SAKTAGANOVA
Astana