A powerful explosion sounded 60 meters from residential buildings on Ivanská cesta street. On Saturday night, July 11, propane-butane cylinders exploded near Bratislava Airport. Most importantly, the incident caused no human casualties, but the shockwave and fire caused serious damage to surrounding property.
It all started with a fire that suddenly engulfed part of a commercial building, a container yard, and nearby dry grass. Local residents reported high flames and thick smoke visible from afar. Many ran out of their homes, fearing the fire would spread to the residential area.
Even before the fire crews arrived, the flames reached gas cylinders left in a dumpster. The explosion damaged six cars parked nearby and broke windows in neighboring premises. The blast was so strong that car alarms went off everywhere in the surrounding vehicles.
Rescuers arrived after midnight and had to work with self-contained breathing apparatus due to heavy smoke. According to Štefan Koči, spokesperson for the Bratislava firefighters, four propane-butane cylinders were found during the site inspection – two of them were completely ruptured. Firefighters extinguished the blaze using three water streams, then thoroughly checked the building's roof and interior with thermal cameras.
Despite being very close to the epicenter, Bratislava Airport's operations were not affected, the infrastructure remained intact, and all flights are operating normally. The incident site is currently under police control. Spokesperson for the regional police, Lukáš Pecek, confirmed that investigators have started criminal proceedings for general endangerment (všeobecné ohrozenie). Experts still need to determine the exact cause of the fire and understand who left the dangerous gas containers in a regular waste area and why.
