(Latest Article Update)
61 Year Old Coffee Shop Owner Killed in Durham Explosion; Duke Employees among those Injured.
By Deborah Strange and Natalie Matthews, WRAL.com digital journalist - 4/10/2019
Durham, N.C. — At least one person died and 17 people were injured after a gas explosion shook downtown Durham and destroyed buildings on Wednesday.
Durham police on Wednesday night identified the person killed as Kong Lee, 61, who owned the Kaffeinate coffee shop. The shop was located inside the building that was destroyed by the blast.
The injured people include Darren Wheeler, a Durham firefighter, and a Dominion Energy employee. Six other people were transported in critical condition, officials said.
According to a spokesperson, Wheeler was out of surgery on Wednesday evening and is now "recovering from his injuries."
Duke University said Wednesday night that eight Duke employees were among those injured in the explosion.
Officials said everyone who was injured was taken to either Duke Medical Center or Duke Regional Hospital. One person was then transferred to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center. Several of those treated at area hospitals had already been released Wednesday night.
Durham Fire Chief Robert Zoldos said that crews are still working to maneuver through debris.
“[It’s an] entire structure that’s down. It looks like the front of the Pentagon on 9/11 on a very, very, very small scale. I know that because I was a first responder to the Pentagon," Zoldos said.
The city of Durham said that firefighters were dispatched to a gas leak at 9:38 a.m. to the 100 block of North Duke Street, where contractors were drilling and struck a 2-inch natural gas line.
Fire crews began evacuating the area, and the explosion occurred at 10:07 a.m.
In a statement, Dominion Energy said that a PSNC Energy employee responded to a call about damage to the line before the explosion occurred. Flames broke out, and the building partially collapsed.
The contractor who struck the gas line was not a Dominion Energy employee and was not doing work on behalf of Dominion Energy, a spokesperson said in a statement.
Read More:
https://www.wral.com/61-year-old-co...-duke-employees-among-those-injured/18317583/
