Third victim succumbs after Mountain View explosion

A second teenage victim who suffered severe burns following a gas cylinder explosion and fire off Jacques Avenue in Mountain View, St Andrew, on Sunday, October 16, has died from injuries sustained from the incident.

Fifteen-year-old Andrew Dennis became the third victim overall to succumb to injuries.

The police Corporate Communications Unit, in a statement yesterday, said Dennis died on Sunday at approximately 11 p.m.

The Mountain View police reported following the explosion, that about 2:35 p.m. on October 16, persons were filling compressed gas cylinders, illegally, from a storage tank attached to the back of a motor truck. During the extraction process, one of the cylinders caught fire and subsequently exploded. The explosion caused severe injury to five persons and major damage to several properties.

Three units from the fire department responded to the blaze.

Dennis, 14-year-old Sanjay Williams, 48-year-old Everett Austin, and two other persons were rushed to hospital by police officers, who were quick on the scene.

Dennis, Williams and Austin have since succumbed to their injuries.