81°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

Two dead, one missing in blast at Connecticut veterans hospital outbuilding

2 years 4 months 2 weeks ago Friday, November 13 2020 Nov 13, 2020 November 13, 2020 9:50 AM November 13, 2020 in News
Source: Associated Press
The VA Connecticut Health Care System in West Haven, Connecticut

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — An apparent steam explosion in a maintenance building at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut killed two people Friday, and a third person is missing, officials said.

“We received a report this morning that an explosion occurred at the West Haven campus of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System that resulted in two deaths in a non-patient care area,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement.

“Neither of the victims were VA patients and patient care was not affected. Emergency personnel are on the scene,” the statement said. “Our prayers are with the families of the victims of this explosion.”

Max Reiss, a spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont, said a third person was missing.

West Haven firefighters described it as a “steam explosion” at a facilities building a short distance from the hospital, their union said in a Facebook post.

State and federal investigators responded, Brian Foley, a top aide to state Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella, said earlier in a text message. He cited “an explosion type incident” with “serious injuries.”

The area of the campus where the blast happened was taped off by late Friday morning, but people were being allowed to enter and exit the main hospital building.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking into what happened, spokesperson Jim Lally said.

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days