Seven hospital employees were injured in a gas explosion in the kitchen of the Polonnaruwa kidney hospital at about 4.30 a.m. on Saturday, police said. Two of the injured are in critical condition, Hiru News reported.
All seven were admitted to Polonnaruwa’s main state hospital for treatment. The building housing the hospital kitchen sustained severe damage, Hiru reported — a claim borne out by images from the scene showing a collapsed ceiling, structural columns stripped bare and debris scattered across a police-taped cordon.
Police have not determined what caused the gas leak that led to the explosion and are continuing investigations, the Daily Mirror reported.
Cylinder or pipeline — the accounts differ
The three outlets covering the explosion do not agree on what exploded.
| Outlet | Cause given |
|---|---|
| Daily Mirror | A gas cylinder in the kitchen |
| NewsFirst | A gas cylinder |
| Hiru News | The gas supply pipeline feeding the kitchen |
The distinction matters for the investigation — a failed cylinder and a failed fixed pipeline point to different faults and different responsibility — and no outlet reconciles the two accounts.
The outlets also give three different names for the hospital the injured were taken to: Polonnaruwa General Hospital (Daily Mirror), Polonnaruwa District General Hospital (Hiru) and Polonnaruwa Teaching Hospital (NewsFirst). The facility that exploded is variously called the Polonnaruwa National Nephrology Hospital and the Polonnaruwa Kidney Hospital.
Not reported
No outlet names any of the injured, describes the nature of their injuries, or says whether patients were in the building at the time. None reports whether the hospital’s kitchen service or wider operations have been suspended, what contingency has been made for feeding inpatients, or whether the gas installation had been inspected. No cost estimate is given for the damage, and no hospital or Health Ministry official has been quoted.
