Gas company fined £5m over death blast that killed woman in Mirfield

Elena Frunza, a Romanian national and former medical services company director, died when her home on Huddersfield Road in Mirfield caught fire following the blast in February 2019.

She was found inside the property and taken to Pinderfields General Hospital, where she died the next day.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the source of the gas escape was identified as being from a fractured six-inch cast iron main running under the carriageway to the front of the property.

The main did not appear on Northern Gas Networks drawings and had therefore not been maintained in accordance with regulations.

Leeds-based Northern Gas Networks Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company was fined £5m and ordered to pay costs of £91,487 at Leeds Crown Court this week.