Explosion rocks Sliema house

An elderly Sliema woman escaped unhurt yesterday when an explosion ripped through her house, destroying two storeys at the back of the residence and damaging neighbouring houses.

Police said there was evidence that the explosion was caused by a defective water heater.

The woman, 82-year-old Mary Cachia, who lives in St Ignatius Street, had just finished her lunch and gone for a nap in the front room when she heard a loud explosion at the rear of the house.

At the time, fireworks were being let off from a barge in St Julian's creek and relatives of Mrs Cachia who rushed to the scene assumed that a petard had fallen on the roof.

Their assumption gained weight when a man working on a roof next door said he saw "something" falling close by.

Members of the St Gregory Band Club who are in charge of the external festivities of the feast of St Gregory, to be celebrated today and tomorrow, were summoned by police and asked to stop the fireworks.

The fireworks were being let off by members of the Mount Carmel fireworks factory of Zurrieq from a barge moored in the bay about 800 metres away from the house. The pyrotechnicians were also called on site by police.

However, sources said that no traces of a petard were then found at the woman's residence. This was confirmed by the police last night.

The great probability, said the sources, was that a water heater, popularly known as geyser, exploded, causing the roof of the bathroom to cave in.

In fact, parts of the packing used in water heaters were picked up from the site by experts helping in the inquiry.

The sources added that there was no way a petard could have travelled such a long way. The safe distance away is 200 metres.

The explosion would have been caused by a build-up of pressure in the water heater, which would have been switched on but unused, the sources said.

The fireworks manufacturers were later told that they could carry on with the fireworks programme according to plan.

The inquiry was ordered by duty magistrate Miriam Hayman who appointed various experts including architect Valerio Schembri, ballistic expert Colonel Albert Camilleri and electrical engineer Carmelo Cuschieri.

A spokesman for the external festivities of St Gregory's said they take every precaution and stick to all the requirements of the law when they let off fireworks.

Relatives of Mrs Cachia moved her to another house with her belongings as a precautionary measure.