Agent Rescues Tenants After Gas Explosion
Illawarra Mercury
Wednesday October 29, 2008
THE real estate agent who rents out a West Wollongong unit block damaged by a gas explosion on Sunday night is giving his tenants free motel accommodation.
The Cochrane St building sustained serious structural damage in the kitchen explosion, which left University of Wollongong PhD student Mochammad Rusli, 45, with burns to his face, arms and legs.Mr Rusli, from Bali, remains in a stable condition at Concord Hospital.Yesterday Martin, Morris & Jones licensee Alan Chaffers provided motel accommodation to two of the building's six tenants, Scott Foster and Steven Marshall.Mr Chaffers decided to help them out after they were unable to find a place to stay when the building was deemed unsafe for habitation on Monday.He said the explosion, which caused the roof of the building to pop off, had warped a brick wall, creating a large gap between the roof and the wall. Building inspectors are scheduled to return to the site today to determine when - or if - the tenants can move back in. Mr Chaffers said he hoped to have a decision for the tenants by tomorrow. Mr Morris and Mr Marshall could take advantage of the free motel rooms until their permanent accommodation situation was settled, the agent added.The building is owned by UOW linguistics and literature lecturer Gaetano Rando.He said yesterday that he was heartbroken by the building's damage, but it was covered by insurance.Mr Rando said he had just spent money on having the top-floor apartment refurbished before Mr Rusli moving in a fortnight ago.
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury
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