Four people were killed in the explosion in an apartment block in the Tbilisi district Didi Dighomi. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The police on Friday detained two people in relation to the deadly gas explosion in Tbilisi which claimed the lives of four, including a 4 year old boy, his mother and an aunt.

The two detainees are employees of KazTransGaz and are part of a crew that was dispatched to the scene of the accident because residents noticed the smell of gas, but failed to handle the problem.

KazTransGaz is a private company which supplies Tbilisi and its surrounding with natural gas.

The two are suspected of grave negligence and violation of security rules and may face up to ten years in prison.

Locals claim they noticed the smell of natural gas long before the tragedy and called the company asking them to come and inspect the site. However, the crew of two that was dispatched dismissed their suspicions and this resulted in the explosion in the flat on the sixth floor of an apartment block in the Didi Dighomi district.

“According to the investigation, residents of Avtandili Street No 8 called the KazTransGaz hot line several hours before the explosion and asked for help, because there was  a strong smell of gas in the building and they suspected there was a leak. The KazTransGaz specialists inspected the site improperly and explained [to the locals] that they mistook the smell of the paint with that of a gas leak. After the specialists left, the explosion occurred in a few hours,” the police statement reads.