Court of Appeal in Katowice Issues Final Judgment in the Szczyrk Gas Explosion Case

How the Tragedy Unfolded

During construction work to lay a connection to the power grid, workers drilled through the gas pipeline running beneath Leszczynowa Street. The escaping gas entered the building and caused a powerful explosion that completely destroyed the three-storey house. A family of eight, including four children, died beneath the rubble. The disaster shook the entire country and became one of the largest construction tragedies of recent years.

The First-Instance Judgment

In May 2024, the Regional Court in Bielsko-Biała convicted six defendants. Roman D., the site manager responsible for carrying out the power connection, received six years’ imprisonment. The drilling-rig operator Marcin S. received four years, and his assistant Józef D. three years. The three defendants connected with an earlier gas-infrastructure project — Marcin K., Jakub K. and Ewa K. — were each sentenced to four years and two months. A ten-year ban on practising their profession was also imposed on all of them.

The Court of Appeal’s Ruling

The judgment became final on 20 May 2026. The Court of Appeal in Katowice upheld the first-instance ruling in its essential parts. The only change was a reduction of the sentence imposed on Józef D. — from three to two years’ imprisonment — in view of his auxiliary role in the work carried out and his lack of decision-making authority on the day of the incident.

“The judgment does not in fact change the first-instance ruling. The court of first instance correctly ruled on the guilt of the defendants. There is no doubt that all the defendants are guilty of the acts attributed to them in the contested judgment.”

— Judge Piotr Pośpiech, presiding judge of the Court of Appeal panel

The court found that the acts were unintentional — the perpetrators did not intend to cause the tragedy, but they should have foreseen its consequences. The key failing was the use of the drilling method instead of the open-trench excavation required by the project, without first establishing the depth at which the pipeline was laid. As the judge put it in the reasoning: the defendants were obliged to determine where the pipe ran — not to carry out the drilling “blind”.

The court also awarded the victims’ relatives substantial sums in compensation, totalling around PLN 2 million, for which all those convicted are jointly and severally liable.

Summary

The final judgment of the Court of Appeal in Katowice closed proceedings that had lasted nearly six years. The court unequivocally found that the disaster was caused by negligence at two stages of the work — both in laying the gas pipeline and in the subsequent drilling. The responsibility of all six defendants was beyond doubt.

For the victims’ families, the judgment means above all one thing: the end of a years-long wait for a resolution and confirmation that the Szczyrk tragedy was not a matter of chance, but the result of specific negligence by specific individuals.