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Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Death toll in Argentina gas explosion at 21; no more people missing and search called off


Rescue workers searching the rubble of an apartment building destroyed by a gas explosion last week in Rosario, Argentina’s third-largest city, on Monday found three more bodies, bringing the confirmed death toll to 21.

The first body found on Monday is that of an 86-year-old woman, municipal Health Secretary Leonardo Caruana said.

At the time, he said authorities would continue searching for two people still listed as missing in the wake of the powerful explosion last Tuesday that toppled the 10-story building and damaged two other structures in downtown Rosario.

Later in the afternoon, officials quoted by the state-run Telam news agency confirmed that two more as yet unidentified bodies had been found.

Local media outlets reported that the pair of bodies were found in the area near the ruined building’s elevators.

Their remains were taken to the Forensic Medical Institute, where authorities await further details in order to report the families and confirm both identities.

The explosion injured about 60 people and damaged the homes of 240 families who have not been able to return.

Investigators are focusing on the gas company employee who was working at the building before the blast and remains under arrest.

Litoral Gas, the Belgian-Argentine utility that serves the area, is also under investigation for having “very limited and primitive” controls in place, prosecutors said.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=939197&CategoryId=14093

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