Two people died and three people were injured in a steam pipe explosion at the Veteran Affairs Hospital in Connecticut on Friday morning, according to Gov. Ted Lamont.
The blast occurred at a maintenance facility at the campus in West Haven, which is separate from the hospital, a source told News 12 Connecticut.
Work was being done there at the time.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy, and I have instructed our state agencies to provide full resources as the response and investigation continues,” Lamont tweeted.
A VA employee and an outside contractor who worked for Mulvaney Mechanical were killed, according to the Hartford Courant.
They were not immediately identified.
Mulvaney Mechanical Vice President Charles Brough said the company, based in Danbury, was cooperating with the investigation.
The three people who were injured are VA employees. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries, state police said at an afternoon press conference.
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said the blast occurred in a “non-patient care area.”
“Neither of the victims were VA patients and patient care was not affected,” he said.
The FBI and state and local police responded to the scene.
With Post wires