Gaso receives about 6000 calls annually: every third call is not about gas 0 22

“We receive about 6000 calls a year,” said Petersone-Godmane, specifying that more than 2000 of these calls are not related to the use of natural gas.

As previously reported, two people died in a gas explosion in Tornakalns, in an apartment building on Bauskas Street, on Friday, January 2: an individual who was illegally tampering with a gas pipe in one of the apartments and an employee of the Gaso Emergency Service who arrived in response to a call regarding a suspected gas leak. Two more people were injured.

The explosion in the five-story residential building occurred due to an illegally damaged gas pipe in an apartment owned by the municipality. As a result of the explosion, the fourth and fifth floors of the building partially collapsed, as well as the roof.

The building is managed by SIA Latvijas namsaimnieks, which has 74 apartments, four of which belong to the municipality.

After the explosion, the building was designated as emergency status, and its operation is prohibited. The Department of Urban Development instructed the building owners to immediately engage a certified construction specialist and conduct a technical inspection. This is necessary to determine the extent of the damage, the conditions for possible partial operation, and recovery scenarios.

Gaso is the only operator of the natural gas distribution system in Latvia. The company ensures the safety of gas networks, provides technical services, and monitors natural gas consumption. Gaso was established in late 2017 by separating the distribution activities from Latvijas gāze in accordance with the requirements of the European Union and the state to ensure the independence of the gas distribution system operator. In late July 2023, the sole owner of Gaso became the Estonian company Elenger Grupp, owned by the Estonian investment company Infortar.