JUST MINUTES AFTER RESTORING GAS SERVICE TO A 90-UNIT apartment building in Queens, New York City, and explosion shook the building injuring at least 17, two of them critically.
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NY Daily News photo
Six weeks ago a similar event that started a kitchen fire caused the gas service to be suspended completely while repairs were made to the entire building. Friday afternoon at 4:30, Con-Ed, the municipal utility company, finally restored the gas service and 15 minutes later it all went ka-boom.
The New York Daily News reports:
Edgar Zaldumbide, whose apartment blew up, lost 75% of his skin and was in a medically induced coma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Friday night.
His 2-year-old daughter, Melissa, whose clothes were burned off her tiny body, was also in critical but stable condition at the hospital.
Sources said Zaldumbide may have accidentally caused the explosion when he used a candle to light his stove because the pilot light was not working.
Emergency Medical Service Chief Robert Browne said the explosion “blew apart the floor.”
“We had fire involving five apartments on the second floor and two on the third,” he said.
The blast and resulting fire left 37 apartment units uninhabitable.
Read the full story HERE.
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