Six defendants, including gas operator Distrigaz, sent to trial over Rahova blast

The charges

On 4 November 2026 the Bucharest Court of Appeal Prosecutor's Office sent six defendants to trial, two companies and four individuals, for negligent destruction that caused a disaster under article 255 of the Criminal Code. The case concerns the 17 October 2025 explosion in a block in the Rahova district of Sector 5, Bucharest, which killed four people. The defendants include the operator of the area's gas distribution system, Distrigaz Sud Rețele SRL according to documents seen by G4Media, and two of its network installers who acted as emergency responders. The other company, Amproperty Construct SRL, is authorised by the energy regulator ANRE to inspect and service gas installations, and its two installers are also charged. Prosecutors argue that each defendant, through its own culpable contribution, failed to act once the gas leak appeared.

“In all six situations, the result was produced by the omission of intervention and safety obligations.”

Three people were arrested during the investigation, one of them a Distrigaz employee, and were later released under judicial control.

How the gas reached the building

According to prosecutors, electrical faults in underground cables heated and perforated the polyethylene pipe supplying block 32 at two points on the morning of 16 October 2025, between about 06:15 and 07:00. Gas escaped into the soil, travelled along an underground thermal channel to the basement of stairwell 2, and rose through the lift shaft and other technical voids. It accumulated mostly on the upper floors and ignited at 09:08 on 17 October 2025 on floors 5 and 6, starting in a fifth-floor apartment. The most likely ignition source was a spark from an electric switch. Shutting the gas supply to the building did not stop the leak, because its source lay upstream in the damaged distribution pipe.

Warnings and the roles of each defendant

Residents called seven times about a gas smell at the neighbouring blocks 32 and 33, the first call logged at 07:08 on 16 October 2025. Prosecutors put 26 hours between that call and the blast, and 16 hours between installers of the authorised operator detecting leaks, despite the supply being off, and the explosion. Prosecutors summed up the distributor's handling of the reports in their own words.

“The source of the leak was not identified and isolated.”

Per prosecutors, the distributor's crews left the area before the defect was located, and the firm under contract with the homeowners' association did not notify the distributor of the problem. The authorised installers found gas in block 32 on the afternoon of 16 October but, according to prosecutors, did not check the basement, did not alert the distributor, and did not ventilate the affected areas. Prosecutors say the installers are not charged with failing to repair the underground pipe, a task that belonged to the distributor.

Casualties and damage

The explosion killed four people and injured eight. It destroyed or rendered unusable 54 apartments in the affected block and destroyed or damaged 45 cars. Another 96 apartments in neighbouring stairwells were also damaged. The building was later demolished.

Deaths4

Injured8

Apartments destroyed or unusable54

Cars destroyed or damaged45

Apartments damaged in neighbouring stairwells96

Deaths

4

Injured

8

Apartments destroyed or unusable

54

Cars destroyed or damaged

45

Apartments damaged in neighbouring stairwells

96

Data from the article text

Seizures and civil claims

Prosecutors ordered seizures on the defendants' movable and immovable assets up to more than 68 million euros and 6.5 million lei, the probable updated value of the damage. The seizure was enforced at Distrigaz's headquarters, covering 15,306 square metres of land within city limits and nine buildings, plus equipment belonging to one of the emergency responders. The estimated value of the seized assets is above 68 million euros. A total of 297 natural and legal persons have become civil parties, and four lawyers were appointed ex officio to represent groups of victims and civil parties jointly.