New surveillance video captures construction worker caught in explosion after fuel tank ignites at gas station
By Olivia Diventi, Julian Quintana
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida (WSVN) — New surveillance video showed the moments a construction worker was caught in an explosion at a gas station in Hallandale Beach. The worker was hospitalized with second and third-degree burns to about half his body.
The explosion happened on Tuesday at the gas station located at 26 S. Federal Highway.
In the surveillance footage obtained by 7News on Wednesday, the worker was seen standing in the middle of the blast. Debris was seen flying after the initial explosion and a fire started off to the side.
Linda Paisley, who works three blocks away, said she heard the explosion.
“I heard, down the street, like a boom,” she said. “That’s pretty scary.”
The gas station was closed due to an excavation project, and according to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue, construction workers were trying to access an underground fuel tank and they cut the concrete above it to get to it, which caused vapors in the tank to ignite.
Rescue crews found the worker, who appeared to be in his 30s, unconscious as he lay near a machine that was on fire. He was transported to Aventura Medical Center.
The surveillance video showed smoke coming from a piece of equipment that was on the other side of the explosion.
Officials said that the was extinguished within 10 minutes.
The explosion left a 50-foot crater at the gas station.
A witness told 7News off camera that at around noon on Tuesday, she heard a big boom and she came outside and saw the devastation that was caused by the explosion.
7News cameras on Wednesday captured another construction surveying the area.
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s office will conduct an investigation to determine the exact cause of the explosion and the fire. As of Wednesday morning, the condition of the injured construction worker remains unknown.
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