ARGENTNA: Powerful blast in a Buenos Aires suburb kills one with witnesses saying a fireball from the sky caused it

Record ID: 359501

  • Title: ARGENTNA: Powerful blast in a Buenos Aires suburb kills one with witnesses saying a fireball from the sky caused it
  • Date: 27th September 2011
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (SEPTEMBER 26, 2011) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF DEBRIS TAXI UNDER DEBRIS FENCE ON GROUND DEBRIS PILED UP ROOFING PILED UP DUMP TRUCK ARRIVING MAN LOOKING AT DEBRIS TAXI UNDER DEBRIS MEN LOOKING FROM ROOF VARIOUS OF POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS GENERAL VIEW OF DEBRIS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JUANA SANDEZ, NEIGHBOR FROM ACROSS THE STREET, SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVACHOZDX17E6NJ6Y4IYQWHJ4IMV
  • Story Text: A forceful and mysterious blast tore apart a home in a Buenos Aires suburb early Monday (September 26), killing one as local residents say they saw a 'fireball' fall before the explosion.
    The violent blast leveled one home and badly damaged several structures in the neighborhood. Local news outlets reported that seven people were hospitalized with injuries.
    A taxi and cars parked on the street outside the home were crushed by debris blown into the air, including heavy chunks of concrete.
    Bewildered area residents observed the destruction wrought by the blast.
    Firefighters and police ruled out a gas explosion saying they found intact gas tanks on the site.
    Juana Sandez, a neighbor who lives across the street, pointed out it was odd there was no fire.
    "Before the explosion, I heard like rocks or something on the roof. I heard it but I didn't think much of it, just thought it was kids throwing rocks. A little more than hour later I heard the explosion and that blew open the doors and windows in the front and the back. I went outside and there was nothing left across the street. I ran over there and asked the lady and she said there was another lady under the debris. They had to pull her out. It's strange there was no fire," she said.
    Local news channels were rife with competing theories about the cause of the blast - none of them confirmed - ranging from meteorites to speculation that bits of space debris from the NASA satellite that plummeted to earth in recent days were to blame.
    Several claimed to have seen a 'fireball' in the sky before the blast.
    "Someone -- a lot of people -- saw a light coming. I didn't see it because I was inside, but they say there was a fireball that fell," Sandez added.
    Local governor Fernando Grey avoided speculation and said scientific investigators would have the final world.
    "The investigation is going to start right away. The official voice on the issue will belong to Buenos Aires' scientific police," Grey said.
    Investigators blocked the area off as a crowd of onlookers and television crews gathered around the house.
    Men in hazmat suits checked the area for radiation in the morning and investigations were expected to go on through the day.
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