Sicily gas explosion search continues for those missing

 AGRIGENTO – Locals in the vicinity of an explosion that killed seven in southern Sicily on Sunday say they could smell gas in the days prior, police say, amid suspicion the gas supply was being illegally tapped. 

 Four of six missing bodies were found by firemen early Monday morning in the rubble of the apartment complex that collapsed in the small town of Ravenusa, where the explosion occured, bringing the death toll to seven. A woman who was nine months pregnant is among the dead and the search continues for the two who remain missing.

 The explosion happened at 8:30 p.m. in via Trilussa and sent out a shock wave of over 100m, destroying buildings in that range.

 The Agrigento prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio has opened a file for disaster and manslaughter and in the next few days will acquire all the documentation relating to the gas distribution network. The size of the area affected by the explosion is currently 10 thousand square metres, but the same prosecutor said it could become wider. Some 50 people have been displaced by the disaster.

 The municipal councilor, Giuseppe Sortino, said, "unfortunately, this is not the first time that gas leaks have been recorded. These have been buffered over time with maintenance by technicians but if we think that the methane network was built almost 40 years ago, considering that Ravanusa was one of the first towns to have methane, I believe that there has not been adequate maintenance.”

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