The trial in the Burabay District Court continues in the case concerning the explosion at the “Centre of Plov” cafe. During the hearing, the owner of the establishment admitted that he had not sufficiently controlled the running of the cafe and had not ensured proper compliance with fire safety requirements. The owner of the autogas filling station, where the gas cylinders for the cafe were filled, also gave evidence.
WHAT THE DEFENDANTS SAID
The cafe owner told the court that he did not shirk responsibility for the organisation of the establishment's operations.
“I admit that I did not properly control the management of the establishment, nor the work of the manager and administrators. I admit that I did not involve myself in the management of the restaurant. And I did not properly draw up documentary contracts regarding fire safety,” said the defendant.
During the hearing, the judge asked the defendant whether he repented of what he had done and whether he had violated fire safety requirements. The cafe owner answered both questions in the affirmative.
WHAT EVIDENCE THE AGFS OWNER GAVE
Evidence was also given by the director of Sherol 2017 LLP, who is one of the defendants.
He said that he was aware of the ban on filling domestic gas cylinders and, according to him, had prohibited employees from carrying out such operations.
“I prohibited it, I told the cashiers, put up a sign, a notice, that filling gas cylinders is prohibited, but they quietly went on working among themselves until the tragedy happened. Because I told everyone categorically at all my filling stations to remove them,” he stated.
Answering the prosecutor's questions, the AGFS director conceded that management oversight of compliance with this ban may have been insufficient.
WHAT IS KNOWN ACCORDING TO THE INVESTIGATION'S VERSION
According to the investigation's version, the cause of the explosion at the cafe was a violation of the operating rules for the gas cylinders used for cooking.
During the hearing, the cafe owner also stated that he had not known about the possible overfilling of the gas cylinders. He noted that, according to the expert examination report contained in the case file, some of the seized cylinders had been overfilled.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE OTHER DEFENDANT
One of the defendants in the case is also the driver who delivered the gas cylinders to the cafe.
During the trial, some of the victims stated that they had no claims against him.
One of the injured parties explained that he did not consider him responsible for the technical condition of the cylinders, since, in his view, control over this should have been carried out at the autogas filling station. At the same time, another female victim filed a civil claim against the AGFS director and the gas deliveryman on a joint and several basis.
In addition, earlier the defendant's daughter recorded a video address to the President of Kazakhstan, in which she asked for an objective and fair consideration of the criminal case.
According to her, the man was only involved in transporting the cylinders and was not responsible for the operation of the gas equipment or the work of the AGFS.
CONTEXT
For the record, on the night of 26–27 February, an explosion of a gas-air mixture occurred in Shchuchinsk in a single-storey cafe attached to a five-storey residential building.
Immediately after the incident, seven people died — some at the scene, some in the first hours after the explosion. The death toll later increased: several of the injured died in hospital in the following days and weeks.
According to the latest data, the total death toll reached at least 12 people, with later reports of an increase to 13.
A criminal case was opened over the fire under Part 3 of Article 292 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Violation of fire safety requirements”). On 3 March, law enforcement agencies detained the owner of the establishment.
In April, two more suspects were detained — the director of the AGFS and the gas cylinder deliveryman.
