A cremation oven exploded in the middle of a Balinese funeral ceremony, killing three people and leaving nine with burn injuries.
The ceremony, formally called ngaben, took place on Friday, Aug. 19, at Adat Selat village in Gianyar regency.
A ngaben ceremony usually involves the cremation of several deceased in one location, and is thus attended by multiple families at once. In this tragic incident, it was suspected that the explosion was caused by a leaking gas tube in the cremation oven, which spread the flames and burned several attendees.
Among the victims were a 14-year-old and a 34-year-old, who suffered burn wounds that almost covered their entire bodies. The two were pronounced dead on the day of the tragedy in Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar.
Yesterday, Sanglah spokesman I Dewa Ketut Kresna reported the death of another victim, that of a 32-year-old man.
“The victim died after being under [the hospital’s] care for nine days.” Kresna said.
Of the nine reported injured, four victims were admitted to the ICU in Sanglah for severe burn wounds.
Three of the injured victims were admitted to Sanjiwani Hospital in Gianyar. Thankfully, two of them, who had suffered minor burn injuries, have been discharged.
