Multiple explosions and a raging fire ravage a petrol station in the town centre: casualties include 3 deaths, people who died from their injuries several days later, and 189 people injured, including 4 with serious injuries. The petrol station is located not far from a wedding reception room with 300 people in attendance, some of whom manage to evacuate the site just after the first explosion. However, the building is later destroyed, and most of the victims reported are among the wedding guests. 17 vehicles are also destroyed, as is a neighbouring building. 100 homes are damaged. The firefighters gain control of the fire within one hour. Initial findings show that the original LPG leak was caused by a break in the hose used to transfer the liquefied gas from the tank (max. capacity: 20 to 25 m³, around half full) to one of the station’s fixed underground tanks (capacity 10 m³ (?)): it seems that the 2 joints (outlet valve and hose) were not compatible. The resulting cloud ignites (spark caused by metal friction, fall of the hose nozzle?) and explodes (UVCE). Another explosion follows and then a third. The largest explosion corresponds to a BLEVE in the tank trunk 10 minutes after the start of the accident, which blows open the tank and causes a violent fire that spreads to neighbouring buildings. From the start, firefighters intervene using dry chemical extinguishers, water and foam, but their action does not seem to have been effective. The reported damage appears to be mainly due to the heat effects of the fire; the effects of the consecutive shock waves and the explosions are confined to the close vicinity (broken windows in neighbouring buildings). Initial findings suggest that the owner (or manager?) was not sensitized to safety issues: the employee performing the transfers was untrained, the company that owned the truck was not a contractual supplier, the truck’s equipment was not in compliance, and the station was not equipped with any safety equipment or instructions.