NTSB releases preliminary report on deadly Youngstown, Ohio explosion

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary findings into what caused last month’s deadly explosion in Youngstown, Ohio.

One person was killed and nine others were injured in the blast.

The NTSB says that a four-person scrap removal crew was working in the basement of the Realty Building on the afternoon of May 28 and they didn’t know the natural gas lines were in service.

A crewmember told investigators that he cut into one of the pipes he had been told was dead.

Partially through the process, the worker said he heard a loud, whistling noise and felt gas blowing into his face from the cut pipe.

The NTSB says its investigators found the service line was inactive, but it had been pressurized with natural gas at the time of the cut.

The board says that later tests found no other leaks.

Wrongful death lawsuit filed

The family of the man killed in the explosion filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this month, saying that the Penn Hills graduate was hurt during the explosion and couldn’t get out of the building. The document said he died in pain, afraid, and alone.

The lawsuit accuses several companies of negligence, including the building owner, the construction company working in the basement that day and the utility companies that own the natural gas line.