Investigators say cause of deadly explosion in eastern Ohio caused by work crew cutting gas line

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The cause of an explosion that happened earlier this week in Youngstown, Ohio, was caused by a crew cutting a gas line they thought was turned off, authorities said.

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a news conference Friday that there were only six minutes in between a gas line getting cut and an explosion at the Realty Tower on Tuesday, according to WKBN.

NTSB board member Tom Chapman said that investigators spoke with workers Friday who were in the basement before the explosion, the news outlet reported. Chapman said a supervisor along with five crew members were working at the time of the incident. However, the supervisor and one of the crew members were not physically there at the time of the explosion.

Chapman said the workers did not smell any gas before they began to cut the pipe, The Associated Press reported. The workers knew there was an issue as they were making the third cut into the pipe.

“When a third cut was made, the crew immediately realized that there was a problem and that gas had been released. The work crew evacuated the basement, alerted the bank employees upstairs and pulled the fire alarm. We understand that at least one of the workers called 911,” Chapman said, according to WFMJ.

The explosion took out the ground floor of the Realty Tower, the AP reported. A bank employee was killed and multiple other people were injured.

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