Workers excavating on N. Duke Street near the Kaffeinate coffee shop and Torero’s Mexican restaurant on April 10, 2019, reportedly struck a 2″ natural gas line leading to a large scale gas leak. Authorities arrived quickly to assess the situation and witnesses state they were just starting to initiate evacuations and warn residents when the leaking pipeline exploded. The explosion and resulting fireball completely destroyed nearby structures and blew out windows throughout the area. At least 17 people, including a firefighter, were taken to nearby hospitals and one death has been reported so far. Additional media reporting states that 6 people were critically injured.
Eric Hageman, the lead attorney on the explosion litigation team at Pritzker Hageman Law Firm, stated, “Based on the current reporting, this type of gas pipeline explosion was almost certainly avoidable. Worse yet, these types of failures happen again and again. Working to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future is the goal of our explosion legal team.’’