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Officials Open Criminal Inquiry Into Crash That Caused Pipeline Fire Near Houston
A vehicle crashed into a gas pipeline valve, exploding into a tower of flame that burned for days. Investigators are now looking into whether it was more than an accident.
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Criminal Investigation Launched Into Texas Pipeline Fire
A car crashed into a Deer Park pipeline on Monday, causing an explosion that continued to burn days later.
Yesterday actually, when we left, I felt like a little bit like lightheaded, dizzy from I’m guessing it’s from the chemicals or I don’t know if it was because I was panicking, but coming back to school when the fire is still on, I don’t feel safe at all.
Reporting from Houston
The city of Deer Park, Texas, said on Thursday that it had opened a criminal investigation into a fatal car crash that caused a gas pipeline explosion this week, resulting in a tower of flame that had burned for days.
The explosion on Monday killed the driver of the vehicle, who officials said had not yet been identified, and damaged nearby homes.
On Thursday, officials were able to remove the white sport utility vehicle that was badly damaged in the explosion, which took place near a shopping complex and a residential development just east of Houston. Medical examiners from Harris County were trying to identify the remains that were recovered from the vehicle.
Investigators quickly ruled out terrorism, but remained uncertain as to whether the crash had been an accident or if the driver had targeted the pipeline, which is owned by a private company, Energy Transfer, and carries natural gas liquids.
Officials said video captured by a camera on a nearby van and published by a local television station, KHOU, showed the moment when the white vehicle, traveling quickly, crashed through the fencing that surrounded an aboveground valve in the pipeline and ignited.
Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, described the crash as an accident in a news conference on Thursday, but she said that investigators were still looking into the details of what happened. “They’ll determine if it was more than that,” she said.
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