1 dead, 12 hurt from explosion at Texas hospital construction site

GATESVILLE, Texas — One construction worker was killed and a dozen other workers were injured on Tuesday from an explosion at a construction site for the expansion of Coryell Memorial Healthcare System hospital, authorities said.

The state fire marshal will lead the investigation into the cause of the explosion at the hospital. Coryell County Judge John Firth, the county’s top elected official, said the fire marshal was either en route or already at the scene of the blast, as of this posting.

County emergency management coordinator Bob Harrell said all of those killed or injured were construction workers and not hospital staff or patients. He also said some of those injured received severe burns and were taken to the Parkland Memorial Hospital’s burn unit in Dallas, about 177 kilometers (110 miles) to northeast of Gatesville.

The incident was reported about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at a construction site for the expansion of the 25-bed hospital in Gatesville, 58 kilometers (36 miles) west of Waco, Texas.

Harrell said all workers were believed accounted for, but that a search dog will be brought in to examine the wreckage of the wing that was being built to the hospital.

Witnesses said a generator exploded at the construction site.

A spokesman for the Texas-New Mexico Power Company said the explosion knocked out power for a large portion of the city.

Patients were being evacuated from the hospital, and from two nearby nursing homes. Gatesville has a population of about 12,400 people. /kga