Suppliers of cooking gas have been increasing the proportion of propane, looking to cut costs, which has led to over a thousand kitchens exploding across the country, killing at least seven people and injuring hundreds others
A lumberjack chops rubber trees felled in Nehinna village on June, 2022, to feed the rising demand for firewood as the cash-strapped island runs out of dollars to import gas for cooking stoves. Image: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP
Nehinna, Sri Lanka: As once relatively wealthy Sri Lanka suffers a dire economic crisis with shortages of everything from medicines to gas, people are returning to cooking with firewood.
The switch began at the beginning of the year when more than 1,000 kitchens exploded across the country, killing at least seven people and injuring hundreds more.
The reason was suppliers looking to cut costs and increasing the proportion of propane, which raised the pressure to dangerous levels.
But now, along with much else in the country of 22 million people, gas is either unavailable or too expensive for most.