Dive Summary:

• While responding to reports of a gas leak in Springfield, Mass., a utility worker punctured a pipe that led a massive explosion that injured 18 people and damaged more than 40 buildings.
• Three of the damaged buildings were immediately condemned and 24 others require additional inspections by structural engineers; part of the neighborhood had already been evacuated due to the possible gas leak.
• The Columbia Gas Co. worker who caused the explosion has not been named, and most of the injured were gas workers and firefighters, in additiona to a police officers who sought cover just before the explosion.

From the article:

A utility worker responding to reports of a gas leak in western Massachusetts punctured a pipe that led to a massive explosion that injured 18 people and damaged more than 40 buildings, the state fire marshal announced Sunday.

Friday night's natural gas blast in one of New England's largest cities was caused by "human error," State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said at a news conference. He didn't name the Columbia Gas Co. worker who caused the explosion, which flattened a strip club, heavily damaged a day care center and scattered debris over several blocks. ...