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Mar 6, 2008 6:57 pm US/Eastern
Damaged Gas Line Blamed In Plum Explosion
PLUM BORO (KDKA) ―
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The investigation continues into what caused a house explosion in Plum Boro that claimed the life of a man and injured his young granddaughter.
KDKA
Officials say a broken gas line that was outside of a Plum Boro home was a factor in the that killed 64-year-old Richard Leith and injured his 4-year-old granddaughter, Gianna Pettinato.
More than 24 hours after the explosion rocked the neighborhood, investigators are still surveying the damage at the scene. The gas line was already deteriorated before the blast.
Officials believe the blast was caused by natural gas, but now they're trying to figure out why and how.
"It is a section of pipe and it was found and so forth, but there's a lot of processes that need to take place before we make a determination of how the pipe got into that type of situation," said Bob Full, of Allegheny County Emergency Services. "The good thing is we've got the pipe and it's been removed for further analysis."
The removed section of pipe is now in a National Transportation Safety Board lab in Washington, DC.
Meantime, the community is still coming to terms with the tragedy, as they begin cleaning up the mess left behind.
"I just can't believe anything like around here just in this nice little, you know, area that something horrible like this could happen," Samantha Steinberg, whose home was damaged, said.
Stay with KDKA for continuing coverage.
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