Survivors sue 4 companies for deadly Lexington house explosion
LEXINGTON, Mo. (KCTV) - The surviving victims of a fiery gas explosion in Lexington, Mo., filed a personal injury and wrongful death lawsuit against four companies currently under investigation for their roles in the incident.
Jacob Cunningham and his 10-year-old daughter, Cami, suffered severe burns and other injuries when their house exploded on April 9. Five-year-old Alistair died from his injuries.
The lawsuit names the following companies:
- United Fiber LLC
- Liberty Utilities (Midstates Natural Gas) Corp. doing business as Liberty Utilities
- Alfra Communications LLC
- Sellenrick Construction, Inc.
The lawsuit alleges United Fiber, Alfra Communication and Sellenriek Construction were installing underground fiber optic cable leading up to the deadly explosion.
They accused of hitting an underground natural gas line owned by Liberty Utilities around 4:15 p.m. on April 9. That caused natural gas to flow from the pipeline and into the homes and businesses near the damaged pipeline.
The lawsuit claims the pressured gas spewed into the soil, through cracks, and through the sewer lines into other buildings for more than 3.5 hours.
Jacob and his children arrived home around 7:45 p.m. According to the lawsuit, the gas had accumulated inside their home for more than three hours. The gas ignited and the house exploded.
The lawsuit also claims that Liberty Utilities was negligent and careless when it failed to clearly mark the location of its underground natural gas pipelines in Lexington where crews were installing underground cable.
The personal injury lawsuit also accuses Liberty Utilities of making no attempt to cut off gas at the meters leading to the home where Cunningham and his children lived, as well as other homes in the neighborhood.
The lawsuit claims the utility failed to immediately report the damaged pipeline, or notify people living in the area of the damage and potential danger of the damaged line.
The lawsuit asks for a fair and reasonable sum of money to compensate Cunningham for his injuries and for the pain and suffering Alistair experienced at the time of his death.
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