Catholic World News News Feature

Puerto Rico Explosion Kills 15, Injures 50 November 21, 1996

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CWN) - A natural-gas explosion in downtown San Juan today killed at least 15 people and injured 50, local officials said.

The 8:35 am blast blew off the side of a six-story building housing offices and apartments, sending broken glass, mortar, and the bodies of victims flying. Emergency workers covered the bodies of victims were they fell on the lawn in front of the Iglesia Milagros Church and its parochial school. No children were injured. Rescuers were using the church as an emergency medical center, assessing medical needs before sending the victims on to hospitals.

Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez of San Juan was at the scene soon after the explosion providing the sacraments of the Church to the injured, dying, and dead. "I came to pray for the injured and the dead and to give courage to relatives," he said.

Fire officials said utility employees were working on a gas main outside the building when the blast occurred. "That's what we're supposing right now. There would have had to be a serious concentration of gas to cause an explosion of this magnitude," said firefighter Ramon Rios Rivera.