Two people were killed when a steam pipe exploded on the Veterans Affairs Hospital campus in Connecticut on Friday, officials said.
According to a hospital spokesman, the blast occurred shortly after 8 p.m. The on-site maintenance took place in the building, but was separate from the medical clinic.
According to Alfred Montoya, medical center director of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, three other workers sustained minor injuries in the blast, which replaced a basement steam pipe.
Montoya said one of the dead was a Navy Pte.
V.A. “We received a report this morning that V.A. An explosion at the West Haven campus of the Connecticut Healthcare System killed two people in a non-patient care area.
“None of the victims were VA patients and patient care was not affected. Emergency personnel are at the scene. We are praying with the families of those affected by the blast.”
That V.A. Medical care in, which is about 75 miles north of Midtown Manhattan and 45 miles south of the state capital Connecticut in Hartford, is expected to continue.
“The hospital has continued to work to ensure that no patient is affected,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D. Connecticut, told reporters in Washington.
Blumenthal and his Connecticut allies U.S. San Chris Murphy called on the two to make a massive reshuffle if not a complete reshuffle from that West Haven campus.
“The VA is from the 1950s, it’s an old, exciting, old facility,” Blumentley said. “It has a new shell on the outside but it has structural vulnerabilities.”
Murphy pulled out the campus heating and air conditioning systems he called “too old.”
“And while they’ve made a lot of improvements, that’s part of the reason why the whole campus needs to be rebuilt,” Murphy said.
Detectives with local police fire marshals and the state police’s Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit found 950 Campbell Ave in West Haven. On the hospital responded, officials said.
Democrat State Sen. representing West Heaven. “My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in the VA explosion,” James Maroni said in a statement.
“I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the first responders who are dealing with the situation as we wait to find out what caused the explosion.”
