Massive gas tank explosion… horrific death for city man

It was a bloody weekend: there are three murders to report tonight, two traffic fatalities, and much more. But we start first in the city where an unusual blast interrupted the hectic pace of mid morning. It came from the Brown’s Butane Gas Service and was heard from far away when a faulty pressurized butane gas tank apparently caved in. An employee was killed instantly when he was blown away in the horrific blast. Duane Moody was at the scene and has this report.

Duane Moody, Reporting
At around eight this morning, twenty-four year old Elton Herrera, left his home on Nargusta Street for work two blocks away at Brown’s Butane Gas Service on Mopan Street. Less than two hours later he was dead, the result of a fifty-pound gas cylinder that exploded and landed three blocks away on Sarstoon Street.

Wayne Cadle, Eyewitness
“I took a lady to the hospital weh bust up and bruise up and bloodied up. So I ker ah to di hospital immediately.”

Duane Moody
“Apparently she is an employee right?”

Wayne Cadle
“Yes, and she is at the K.H.M.H. right now.”

Duane Moody
“And someone died as well.”

Wayne Cadle
“Di person died and his brains went over to the kennel side and the tank went over to the other side. Di tank explode and when di tank explode ih send him across the street and the brains and the tank on the other side ah di other side of the next kennel.”

Herrera’s father, Gregorio, was flabbergasted and shaken up. He told us that he heard the blast, but thought nothing of it until a neighbor told him his second eldest child was killed.

Gregorio Herrera, Father of Deceased
“I still can’t believe it up to yet right now. Dis morning, I sit down round di tea table, me and mi son and I just feel something. So I di watch ah and ih ask mi daddy weh yo di watch mi fa? And I run wah lee joke wid him and he tell me daddy I gwein. I seh okay son and I neva did see him again. Elton was an easy going fellow and somebody whey you coulda mi work with and understand. Ih got lee difficulty sometimes fi understand, but he’s somebody dat is alright. Dah wah son weh a mi love very deeply. Dehn suppose to tek more precaution doing their work, si dat dehn got dehn workers eena good condition, see dat dehn workers is alright and noh got people working and noh have good working facility. I need people fi go round and check all these gas stations and see if it’s alright and is working in good, good conditions fi mek people work.”

Gregorio says that his son’s job was high risk and believes that the necessary safety measures were not in place. Preliminary investigations reveal that the cylinder was welded at the bottom and could not sustain the pressure. Proprietor of Brown’s Butane Gas Service, Walter Brown, says he carried out his own investigation.

Walter Brown, Proprietor, Brown Butane Gas Service
“If it works, if it doesn’t leak or anything like that and then we take the water and do the bottom. We check the bottom, check the sides, check the valves and if everything is okay then we fill it. From my investigation just now, they did test the tank before they filled it. I don’t think that we are responsible; firstly, we don’t own the tanks, the tanks are the private property of the whoever it is that they were filling and we did what we were suppose to do—test it before they filled it—and it appeared that after they filled it they found that it could not take the pressure and they were taking it out.”

A female employee, Natalie Tun also received some injuries, and she was taken to the K.H.M.H. where she was treated and released. Duane Moody, reporting for News Five.