Worker Recounts Hearing Cries for Help After Deadly House Explosion in Medan
A massive explosion that destroyed a luxury house in Grand Polonia Medan, Medan Polonia District, Medan City, North Sumatra, has left harrowing accounts from eyewitnesses at the scene. The incident occurred on Monday (20/7) afternoon.
One account came from Danu (43), a construction worker who was not far from the location. He managed to rescue a Lexus driver who became a victim when the explosion occurred.
Danu recounted that before the blast, he saw a flash of white light from the direction of house number 3B, followed by a loud bang. “Within seconds of me turning the corner, a white light appeared, then the explosion happened immediately,” Danu said when met at the location.
The explosion sent building materials flying in all directions. At the same time, a Lexus was passing right in front of the house, which then collapsed due to the blast. Fortunately, the driver was not injured. “I saved a Lexus driver. His car was passing by at the time. There was only the driver inside, I saw it myself,” he said. He noted the car body was crushed by building materials and suffered severe damage. Although briefly trapped, the driver survived. “The car that was hit was destroyed. The driver was momentarily pinned, but his condition was fine. The debris hit the right side of the vehicle, while the other parts were still intact,” he said.
After helping the driver, Danu said he briefly heard someone calling for help from inside the collapsed house. “I heard a voice asking for help from inside the house, it seemed like from the upper floor of the collapsed building. It was a woman’s voice. It was only brief, shouting ‘help’, then it went silent,” he said.
The atmosphere was full of panic. People near the house that exploded suffered injuries. The explosion also damaged at least seven other houses. Danu said he briefly saw what appeared to be an injured baby on the upper floor of the collapsed building. “I was focused on helping the driver. But I briefly saw a baby covered in blood up there,” he explained.
Moments after the explosion, a strong smell of gas was detected from the destroyed house. Shortly after, smoke was seen emerging from the top of the ruined structure. “While rescuing the victim, a pungent gas smell was noticeable around the location. After that, smoke appeared from the top of the building,” he said.
The large explosion occurred at house number 3B in the Grand Polonia complex on Monday (20/7/2026) at around 3:30 p.m. Western Indonesian Time. The force of the blast caused severe damage to the three-storey building, with most of the structure collapsing. In addition to destroying the house at the centre of the explosion, the debris also fell on three cars parked in front of the house. Several houses to the left, right, and front of the location also suffered damage from the powerful blast wave. A joint search and rescue team is continuing to search for victims believed to be buried under the building rubble.
The exact cause of the incident is still under investigation by the police and relevant teams. Based on initial investigation results, the explosion is suspected to have been caused by a gas leak from an underground pipe network in the house area.
Meanwhile, PGN Medan Area Head Agus Kurniawan asserted that based on an inspection conducted by his team at the scene, no natural gas or methane content was detected. “Based on gas detection carried out by the PGN team and witnessed by external authorities on Monday (20/7/2026) evening, including in the ground floor and first floor areas of the house in question, the result showed 0 ppm or no detection of methane gas (natural gas) content at the incident location,” he said on Tuesday. He mentioned that the PGN team continues to coordinate with joint officers to ensure proper handling on the ground and to monitor developments. “However, the exact cause of this incident will still await the results of the official investigation by the authorities. We continue to coordinate intensively with the authorities and local officials to ensure proper handling on the ground,” he explained. He stressed that PT PGN (Persero) Tbk expresses deep concern for the victims affected by this incident. PGN’s current priority, he added, is to secure the location by deploying technical and emergency response teams.