Eight Workers Injured In Virginia School Explosion

NEWPORT NEWS (AP) – Eight workers injured in a Sunday morning explosion at a middle school in southeastern Virginia were using propane to heat roofing tar, police said.

Whether that is what sparked the explosion at Crittenden Middle School remains unclear, though. Officials cannot complete their investigation until the damaged part of the building is stabilized, an effort they plan to resume Monday morning, said Newport News Police spokesman Lou Thurston.

“I do know that they were using propane to heat the tar, but I don’t know that was what sparked the explosion,” Thurston said.

The employees of T.R. Driscoll Inc. of Lumberton, N.C., suffered varying injuries in the explosion that sparked a fire and caused a large wall to collapse in the school’s shop area.

The Virginia Pilot reported that two of the workers were treated and released. Three were listed in critical condition at Sentara Norfolk General and one was listed in stable condition. The conditions of the other two workers who were taken to a Richmond hospital were not available.

Thurston said the contracting company had been doing repair work at the school for about five weeks.

Monday classes were canceled.