Two years after flames gutted a Silver Spring apartment building there is new construction, but the wounds still haven’t healed for many. A vigil near the Flower Branch apartments honored the seven lives lost in 2016. Claudia Curiel reports.
The National Transportation Safety Board has scheduled a hearing to determine the probable cause of a fatal natural gas explosion more than two years ago.
The NTSB said in a news release Tuesday that the hearing is scheduled for April 23 at its conference center in Washington. The hearing was originally scheduled for March 12.
On Aug. 10, 2016, a massive explosion ripped through the Flower Branch Apartments complex. Two children were among the seven killed. Nearly 40 people were injured in the blast, and at least 80 families were left without homes.
Last November, Maryland's two U.S. senators said federal investigators need to wrap up their inquiry. NTSB officials said at the time thorough investigations take time and cited staffing issues.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded the explosion stemmed from a gas leak in a utility room housing the complex's meters.
Meanwhile, lawsuits that could bring relief to some victims are stalled while the NTSB finishes investigating the Silver Spring blast. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded it stemmed from a gas leak in a utility room housing the complex's meters.
The tragedy was still fresh on their minds and those who lost relatives said the pain will never go away at a vigil last spring marking the two-year anniversary.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
“We never forget that. In my mind I always have a picture of my father when he was still alive, but we have to keep forward,” said Erick Jiménez, who lost his father, Augusto Jiménez.
Another woman told News4 in Spanish that she and her relatives still live with stress, trauma and anxiety caused by the explosion.
