Exploding beer keg kills man and his friend celebrating his birthday

A man and his friend celebrating his birthday were killed when a beer keg exploded during the party in Brazil.

Valdeir dos Santos Ferreira, 38, and Julio Cesar Venancio, 39, installed the beer keg in the backyard of a house in Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro state, on Saturday.

The supplier of the barrels had failed to assemble the equipment, and the two victims were doing so alone when the device suddenly exploded, reports indicate.

Ferreira, who was celebrating his birthday that day, died at the scene.

Venancio was taken to Nova Iguacu General Hospital but died two days later.

Julio Cesar Venancio was taken to Nova Iguacu General Hospital but died two days later

Specialist draft beer retailer Rodrigo Kaminski told local media that a defect in the keg’s valve or CO₂ regulator may have caused the explosion.

He said: ‘These two components have great security value and must be valid.

‘From the photos I have seen of the place, it seems to me that it was an old barrel that should have already been demolished.

‘Maybe there wasn’t even a safety valve to prevent overpressure.

‘Maybe too much CO₂ ended up in the barrel. But only forensics will be able to confirm what really happened.”

Police said they are investigating the matter and the cause of the explosion is yet to be determined.

In May, a Dutch man died from his injuries after a steel petanque ball left near a fire pit exploded during a bachelor party.

The explosion in the Belgian town of Stavelot, Wallonia, reportedly burned his entire face and sent metal fragments into his skull.

A neighbor said he ‘thought a gas cylinder had exploded’ in the incident that seriously injured the 37-year-old unnamed tourist from Eindhoven.

It was claimed that the tourists, all in their mid-30s, placed petanque balls in or under the fire pit, causing one of them to become so hot that it exploded.