VietNamNet Bridge – Over 1,000 people die every year in Vietnam in gas-related cooking accidents due to lax control by authorities and rampant fraud by operators.

In the south alone, six million gas cylinders are in circulation. Around 1.2mil of them are filled and supplied by illegal operators.

Safety agencies announced recently that around two-thirds of the six million cylinders had not been certified for safety.

"Unsafe canisters are the main reason for fatal explosions and fires," Hoang Anh, director of Petrolimex Gas, said.

"Most of the [illegal operators] use their own equipment for filling gas. Such equipment breaks the safety valves," he said.

These operators also buy low quality gas cylinders and sell them to customers through door-to-door advertising.

Lieutenant-colonel Nguyen Manh Hung of HCM City's fire department, said: "These [illegal operations] are highly dangerous.

They often fill the gas in closed areas. The gas does not evaporate and only needs a small spark to set off an explosion and fire."

Other companies illegally refill canisters meant to be used just once.

"Though the laws demand that [these] cylinders be destroyed, it is easy and common for them to be refilled and sold," Dung said.

To prevent this, he said, the government should have transparent rules for filling and distribution of gas cylinders, closer control on the canisters in circulation, and stringent punishment for illegal operators.

Huynh Tan Dung, head of the HCM City Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (LISA) Department's Safe Technique Investigation Commission, agreed saying: "Agencies like the trade and LISA departments and the police should step up investigations and control gas filling and transport, especially by illegitimate operators."

Dung said further: "We have to increase customers' safety awareness to prevent accidents related to cooking gas."

He had a safety message: "Please check the seal on gas cylinders as well as the expiry date."

(Source: Viet Nam News)