Two killed in explosion at Connecticut veterans hospital

Two people were killed in an explosion at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut on Friday morning, The Associated Press reported. 

Brian Foley, a top aide to state Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella, said in a text message to the AP that state and federal investigators were responding to “an explosion type incident” at the VA Medical Center in West Haven, Conn., and that there were “serious injuries.”

CBS’s Hartford, Conn., affiliate station, WFSB, first reported that Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) confirmed that two people had been killed in the explosion. The AP later confirmed the deaths. 

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Officials: 2 die in explosion in maintenance area of veterans hospital in Connecticut.

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) November 13, 2020

#BREAKING: @WFSBnews has just confirmed that 2 people were killed in an explosion on the #WESTHAVEN VA campus. Stay with #WFSB and the Ch. 3 app for continuous updates on this developing story. https://t.co/DedWMiQblt

— NICOLE NALEPA (@NicoleNalepaTV) November 13, 2020

The West Haven Police Department posted on Facebook that the explosion was an “isolated incident with no threats to the public.”

Officials reportedly told ABC’s New Haven, Conn., affiliate station, WTNH, that one of the people killed in the explosion was a hospital employee and the other was an outside contractor.

A VA spokesperson also told WTNH that the explosion resulted from a leak in the steam plant not part of the hospital building and that the two people killed had been attempting to fix the leak when the explosion occurred. 

WTNH reported that smoke could be seen coming from the building as reporters arrived at the scene. 

State police told the AP they were sending three detectives from their fire and explosion investigation unit. 

Charlie Grady, an FBI spokesperson in New Haven, told the AP that state police were leading the investigation. 

“The FBI will assist Connecticut State Police as needed,” he added.