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For days, a foul smell hangs around in the Humberto Vidal shoe store in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The smell is caused by leaking propane gas coming from an unmapped pipe in the sloping road near the shoe store. The gas goes undetected due to faulty gas searching techniques. Then, an air conditioner with bad wiring is switched on, starting a spark that ignites the propane and the store explodes, claiming 33 lives.
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00:00An ordinary day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1996.
00:05Christmas is coming and the city is packed with chauvis.
00:10Then, a massive blast rips through the streets, overturning vehicles and causing widespread
00:16devastation.
00:18The reason is a mystery, but the effects are terrifyingly obvious.
00:2333 people are dead and more than 80 are injured.
00:27Now, using advanced computer simulations, we reveal exactly what went wrong and why
00:34no one managed to prevent this catastrophic explosion.
00:39Behind every disaster lies a chain of critical events that decides who lives and who dies.
00:46Unravel the clues and count down those final seconds from disaster.
01:02The Caribbean, Puerto Rico, San Juan, a bustling city in one of the most densely populated islands
01:13on earth.
01:15Puerto Ricans are famed for their warm hospitality.
01:19But San Juan, like many big cities, is plagued with crime problems.
01:23The murder rate in Puerto Rico is twice that of New York City, fueled by a lucrative drug
01:28trade.
01:30There are even local terrorist groups fighting for independence from the USA.
01:35They're willing to use violence for their cause.
01:41The worst outrage was in 1981, when a group called the Macheteros blew up 11 government aircraft
01:47worth $45 million.
01:53More than one bomb factory has been found, but terrorists still pose a threat.
02:00They draw their support from blue collar areas like this, Rio Piedras, a suburb in the southeast of the city.
02:10Thursday, November 14th, Sara Ruiz, an employee in a department store on the main street,
02:18Jose Diego, smells something bad.
02:20She decides to take action and sprays perfume in the air to mask the odor.
02:31Next door is the Humberto Vidal shoe store, managed by Arturo O'Neill.
02:38He's 35 and well-liked by all his staff, including messenger Jose Antonio Umpierre.
02:45I've known Arturo since he was young, since he was 12 years old.
02:50A very well-mannered guy, a good friend.
02:57Arturo goes to the shoe store basement, where he too smells an unpleasant odor.
03:02He thinks it might be gas.
03:06Which seems crazy.
03:08For the eight years the company has been in the building, it's never had a gas supply.
03:14The shoe store stands on a T-junction.
03:18Over the road is a convent, a school and a Catholic church.
03:22On the west side is a street of small stores and restaurants.
03:28The Humberto Vidal building itself is unremarkable.
03:32A six-storey reinforced concrete structure, 33 meters by 17.
03:38It's not just a store, but also the head office for the entire Humberto Vidal operation.
03:44A shoe importer and retailer with 32 branches throughout Puerto Rico.
03:51There is a large basement, the only one in the area, used for storing shoes.
03:56Above is the shoe outlet, a record store and a jewellers.
04:00The first floor is mostly empty.
04:02The upper four floors are the company offices.
04:05It's a busy family-run operation with over 30 employees.
04:158.22 am.
04:18Worried about the smell, Arturo decides to take no chances.
04:22He rings the local gas company, San Juan Gas, which is part of the Enron Corporation.
04:29An hour and 20 minutes later, a gas technician is in the building.
04:33He switches on a state-of-the-art gas sniffer.
04:39The gas man, Ramon O'Farrell, knows a gas leak can be very dangerous,
04:42and he checks carefully around the basement.
04:51The sensor detects no gas at all.
04:54Something else must be causing the smell.
04:59The San Juan Gas Company told Arturo that the smell was from the sewers.
05:05Puerto Ricans have been struggling with the country's crumbling infrastructure for years.
05:10Basic utilities such as sewers are badly in need of repair.
05:17Six days later, Wednesday, November the 20th, 6.45 am.
05:24Arturo opens up the shoe store, and the mystery odor is still there.
05:31Today, it's stronger than ever.
05:35Shortly afterwards, Arturo's younger brother, Orlando, arrives.
05:41He's a salesman in another Humberto Vidal store just down the road.
05:45The two brothers are very close.
05:49We always had breakfast together, always.
05:52We either ate on the way in or took it with us to the store.
05:57But today, Arturo doesn't feel hungry.
06:00He's worried about the smell, which seems worse in the early mornings.
06:07He asks his brother to check the basement for anything unusual.
06:14I went down the stairs.
06:15I couldn't go any further because my eyes misted up.
06:20And I came back up.
06:277.15 am.
06:30Milagro Saavedra arrives for work.
06:33Although she's got a good job as the Humberto Vidal human resources manager, her real passion is in the kitchen.
06:41My dream was to be a master in pastry making, so every weekend I always took classes.
06:51Arturo asks Milagros if she'll check the basement.
06:57But Milagros smells something, too, and refuses.
07:01I didn't dare.
07:03I felt ill.
07:04I was scared.
07:05I didn't want to go down to the basement.
07:117.28.
07:12Although it makes no sense, Arturo is so concerned, he phones the gas company again.
07:219am.
07:2390 minutes later, another team from the gas company shows up.
07:29This time, their leader is Luis Marquez.
07:33Down in the basement, he sniffs the air.
07:35He can smell something.
07:39There's certainly an odor, but he declares it's not gas.
07:42It's the smell of the shoes.
07:46Made from plastics and rubber, they're giving off a heady cocktail of pungent fumes.
07:52Marquez says it's nothing to worry about.
08:009.30.
08:03Marquez now goes outside.
08:05He contacts his base and decides that following standard procedure, he should check the soil under the road for gas.
08:15The team drills narrow holes into the ground and inserts a gas-sensing probe.
08:23They make 18 holes and detect no gas.
08:3111.45.
08:33Satisfied they've done all they can, the brigade's next priority is...
08:37Lunch.
08:38Back at their base.
08:42Back at the shoe store, Arturo is still worried.
08:45Everyone who comes seems to have a different theory about what's causing the smell.
08:50No one can reassure him over the mystery odor.
08:53The longer it persists, the more fearful he becomes that they could be heading for disaster.
09:04Thursday, November 21st.
09:06Something unusual seems to be happening in a shoe store in a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
09:136.45 in the morning.
09:15Two contractors arrive at the Humberto Vidal building to do maintenance on the air conditioners.
09:21Like many father and son outfits, they don't always see eye to eye.
09:27Father was difficult. That is, we had lots of problems between father and son.
09:32That is, we fought, but within 10 minutes, we'd already forgotten about it and carried on as normal.
09:40At the front door, they're met by shoe store manager, Arturo O'Neill.
09:47As soon as he unlocks the door, Arturo smells the pungent odor again.
09:51But neither of the air conditioning men think there's anything unusual.
09:57I didn't smell it, and I don't believe my dad smelled it.
10:02Arturo is getting more worried than ever.
10:04Is the smell just the odor given off by the shoes?
10:08Perhaps he's been working here too long, and his senses are playing tricks on him.
10:14He knows he must soon decide if he should open up the store to the public.
10:217.30am.
10:24Another gas company team arrives.
10:27They're aware that the shoe store manager says the smell is strongest in the early morning.
10:31And they begin to re-check the test holes made yesterday.
10:35To be absolutely sure.
10:387.50.
10:41Jorge Ibanez Jr. finishes his share of the work.
10:45He agrees to meet his father for lunch as usual, but first, he has another job to go to.
10:528.00am.
10:529.00am.
10:54Directly opposite the store, in the Miller Grocer Convent Schoolyard, dozens of pupils are about to have an outdoor lesson.
11:05Her shopper, Maritza Ramos, is out early with her two young daughters looking to buy shoes.
11:12She's just moved from New York back to her childhood home nearby.
11:18Jocelyn is four years old, and Cassandra is almost three.
11:23Like little girls the world over, they're looking forward to getting their new shoes.
11:28Okay.
11:318.26.
11:33Inside the shoe store, Milagro Saavedra is chatting to co-workers about her pastry classes.
11:39Suddenly, she realizes she's going to be late for work in the upper-story offices.
11:44She rushes up to the third floor reception to punch her time card.
11:54At 8.29am, manager Arturo O'Neil decides he will open the shoe store to the public, despite his concern
12:01about the smell.
12:05Jose Antonio, the messenger, is in the fifth floor kitchen having coffee.
12:11By 8.30am, Maritza Ramos is inside the shoe store with her young daughters.
12:16I'm so tired.
12:17Including the offices and all the stores.
12:21There are now nearly 50 people in the Humberto Vidal building.
12:26Ten seconds later.
12:43The huge blast tosses cars and trucks across the street, crushing passers-by.
12:53Miraculously, no one from the school is hurt, although moments earlier the schoolyard was full of children.
13:03Within minutes of the explosion, the fire brigade and the police are on the scene.
13:09Cameras follow, and the whole disaster is covered on live TV.
13:14For over 100 meters around, there's total destruction.
13:19A bustling street has become a horrifying disaster zone.
13:24Bodies are strewn everywhere.
13:27As the dust settles, it becomes clear that the Humberto Vidal building has sustained extraordinary damage.
13:34The ground floor, the mezzanine, and second floor are devastated, leaving just the steel and concrete frame.
13:43Most of the third floor is intact, although the reception area collapses.
13:49The fourth and fifth floors are littered with glass and rubble.
13:54Whether people live or die depends largely on where they are when the building explodes.
14:01Worst off are those on the ground floor.
14:05Two stories of concrete collapse on top of them.
14:11Milagros and the receptionist have fallen four floors and lie on a heap of rubble.
14:18On the fourth and fifth floors, office staff, including the messenger Jose Antonio, are alive, but stranded.
14:28I thought we weren't going to die.
14:31All the stairwells have collapsed, so there's no way down.
14:39Chief Superintendent Pedro Toledo heads the police effort.
14:43People initially were inside the building searching at hand, trying to dig the survivors out.
14:53Milagros wakes up.
14:55Her friend, the receptionist, lies dead nearby.
14:59I tried to lift myself up, but I couldn't. I was too badly injured.
15:06Eventually, a policeman scrabbles to reach her.
15:11I said to him not to let me die there, alone.
15:17The rescuer realizes she is seriously injured, and she must be moved only with the utmost care.
15:23He needs to get help, and has no option but to leave her alone, surrounded by death.
15:31It was very difficult to get through that situation alone.
15:38Eventually, despite her injuries, she is brought to safety.
15:46Messenger Jose Antonio is still stuck on the fourth floor.
15:52And I'm thinking the worst, that it's all going to collapse.
15:57Firefighters and police begin a frantic effort to get a ladder to him.
16:03Amazingly, the two young daughters of Maritza Ramos are found virtually unscathed in the ground floor shoe store.
16:10Rescuers rush them to the medical center.
16:14The authorities have no idea who the girls are, so they put them on television, hoping to trigger a response.
16:20Hi. Hi.
16:23Maritza's sister, Janet, learns of the girls' plight, and rushes to the hospital.
16:28It was the first time that they were anywhere alone, without their mother.
16:41One of the terrified girls manages to relate what happened.
16:46Jocelyn said to me, a wall fell down on mummy.
16:51The little girl tells that, although her mother was crushed under rubble,
16:55she held their hands and told them, it would be all right.
17:01With the little life that she had, she'd stood by her daughters, one in one hand and one in the
17:06other.
17:09Jocelyn and her sister held on to their mother until a policeman came to their rescue.
17:14Only then, when she was sure they were safe, did Maritza Ramos lose consciousness and die.
17:269.30am.
17:28Rescuers have yet to reach the upper floors where Jose Antonio and several others are trapped.
17:37Finally, they get a ladder to him and his terrified co-workers.
17:43When they got me down, I had to pass over the top of all those people who were dead.
17:48I've never seen anything like it. Never in my life.
17:55Rescuers spend days clambering through the shattered building.
17:59But it becomes increasingly clear the chances of finding survivors are slim.
18:06Store manager Arturo O'Neil has yet to be found.
18:09His younger brother, Orlando, is distraught.
18:13It's easy to wait, to know he's there. How is he? If he died, was it instantly? If not, was
18:21he still alive?
18:22If he was alive.
18:27Five days after the blast, Tuesday, November 26th.
18:31The desperate rescue operation continues, but the death toll now stands at 29.
18:38Then comes another crushing blow.
18:44Engineers realized the entire building could collapse at any moment.
18:48Dozens of rescuers' lives are in danger.
18:52The engineers asked the chief of police to halt the rescue operation immediately.
18:57They want to make the building safe with a steel framework.
19:00A process that could take weeks.
19:03Yet even now, rescuers can't rule out the possibility that someone could still be alive.
19:12A fireman told me he heard somebody calling out.
19:19Pedro Toledo faces the toughest choice of his career.
19:25It is a very difficult decision to, because you have family, people that were missing their loved ones, asking for
19:33them.
19:34Hundreds of anxious relatives await his decision, frantically worried that their loved ones are going to be abandoned, buried alive
19:42in the rubble.
19:47Five days after a massive blast rocks the city of San Juan, there are still people unaccounted for, and they
19:54could be alive under layers of rubble.
19:57Relatives are horrified to learn that the rescue mission could soon be called off.
20:06Police chief Pedro Toledo has an agonizing decision.
20:09He has to weigh the chances of anyone surviving against the risk of the building collapsing on top of the
20:14rescuers.
20:16It's a tough call.
20:28Toledo feels he has no choice. He orders in the heavy machinery, and the engineers get to work.
20:35It was very difficult to tell them that we had to stop because it was unlikely that it would be
20:41alive.
20:46Finally, 27 days after the blast, rescuers get through the rubble right down to the basement.
20:54They find the body of Jorge Ebánez Sr., the air-conditioning man.
21:01Two days later, Arturo O'Neil's body is the last to be removed.
21:05The final toll is 33 dead.
21:14So how could such a catastrophe happen? What could have caused such a loss of life?
21:25It could have been a criminal, huh? It could have been an accident.
21:32Investigators arrive from several federal agencies.
21:36In charge of the team from the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB, is Charles Batten.
21:45Batten has investigated more than 300 accidents in his 23 years with the agency.
21:51Yet even he is shocked by what he sees in Rio Tietras.
21:55You're never prepared for walking into a disaster such as we saw with a building in shambles, blown across the
22:04streets, vehicles overturned.
22:07I don't think you ever get used to that.
22:10To add to the horror, local people are terrified a second explosion could happen at any moment.
22:17It's down to Batten to find the answers quickly.
22:25Now, by rewinding the disaster and going deep into the investigation, we can reveal what really happened to the Umberto
22:32Vidal building.
22:33How a perfectly ordinary shoe store exploded with devastating force.
22:39Advanced computer simulation will take us, where no camera can go, into the heart of the disaster zone.
22:50At this stage, Charles Batten can rule out nothing.
22:55There was a possibility of a bomb being set in there.
22:58There was a possibility of arson.
23:02The most frightening scenario is that the blast was the work of terrorists.
23:07Could a group such as the Macheteros have planted a bomb or accidentally detonated a device?
23:14After all, they are capable of causing major destruction.
23:21Forensic investigators from the FBI and ATF scour the rubble.
23:26They know explosives leave a residue, a tell-tale chemical fingerprint.
23:33They take samples from the site.
23:38They send all the evidence to their lab for detailed analysis.
23:43If a bomb was involved, these tests will prove it.
23:48Again, lab tests will provide the answer.
23:54While they wait for the results, the investigators move on to other possibilities.
23:59What else could have caused the destruction?
24:02Could it be arson?
24:05Ten years ago, in this very city of San Juan, 97 people were killed when three arsonists set fire to
24:12the DuPont Plaza Hotel.
24:18Arson, you would start looking at burn patterns in the building.
24:22If there were any flammable vapors still present.
24:27Things of this nature.
24:29Investigators take yet more samples.
24:32Now they're looking for flammable liquids, like gasoline or lighter fluid.
24:37Anything that an arsonist could use to start a fire.
24:42Then, when the lab results come in, there's a major turning point in the investigation.
24:49Not a single trace of high or low impact explosives or detonation materials is found.
24:56Nothing indicating arson is discovered either.
25:01Satisfied that this is not a crime scene, the FBI and the ATF hand the investigation over to Batten.
25:09He's under tremendous pressure for answers, and he needs them now.
25:13In a few days, the safety authorities will demolish the building.
25:18His team photograph the rubble from every angle.
25:22They study their prints in detail.
25:25There must be some clue here.
25:28He also has his team interview every witness they can find.
25:32They eventually gather 110 statements.
25:35Most are in Spanish, and there are problems getting reliable translators.
25:40It's a mass of conflicting evidence.
25:42But lots of people do mention a bad smell.
25:47Batten is running out of options.
25:51He's left with one disturbing possibility that common sense would seem to rule out.
26:00Despite the fact that he's confirmed the building has no gas supply.
26:05And technicians have several times checked for gas leaks.
26:09Batten wonders, could Arturo O'Neill have been right all along?
26:14What if it was gas?
26:19If that's true, then who knows how many other lives are still at stake?
26:23How many other buildings throughout the city could be on the verge of exploding?
26:33Investigators are starting to narrow their focus into the battling explosion of a shoe store in Puerto Rico.
26:40They've discounted terrorist action and arson.
26:45Now they're left with only one disturbing option.
26:50Somehow, a massive build-up of some kind of flammable gas must have ignited, destroying the building.
26:59There are two possibilities.
27:02Propane, as supplied by the San Juan Gas Company.
27:05Or natural gases like methane from the sewers.
27:09Only three years ago, a methane explosion killed 50 men in a coal mine in South Africa.
27:16And the investigators are well aware that a year before that, gas built up in a sewer system in Guadalajara
27:23in Mexico.
27:25The gas exploded with devastating results, killing at least 200 people.
27:33Could this be a rerun of the Mexican blast?
27:36Could gas have escaped from the damaged sewers into the building?
27:41Batten first examines not the sewers, but what's left of the building itself.
27:47It's vital that he pinpoints the exact source of the blast.
27:51Because this will give him crucial evidence on what kind of gas was involved.
28:00Propane is heavier than air, so will sink and gather in invisible pools near the floor.
28:08Methane, the main sewer gas, is lighter than air, so will tend to rise.
28:13And if it can't escape, will collect at the top of any space available.
28:19The gas company suggests that methane could have built up above a false ceiling in the disused part of the
28:24first floor.
28:27It seems plausible, so the team take a closer look.
28:31Then, just below, they find a large steel beam.
28:36Despite the blast, it's still intact.
28:39And its distorted shape reveals a vital clue.
28:45There was a very large beam there that had been shoved upward.
28:50The beam is bent up a full 15 centimetres from horizontal.
28:55It's so curved, the team give it a nickname.
28:58The rainbow beam.
29:04Immediately, they realise only one thing could have caused it.
29:08An explosion from below.
29:14Could heavier than air propane from the gas company be responsible for the carnage?
29:28The gas company, part of the powerful Enron Corporation, object strongly to this line of inquiry.
29:36They go on the offensive, insisting they be allowed to take their own samples and photos.
29:42Charles Batten refuses.
29:45Against this disturbing backdrop, Batten carries on his own investigation.
29:52He orders his team to make a series of their own test holes to see if any gas is present.
29:59The results are shocking.
30:03They find very high concentrations of propane in the soil all around the building.
30:12It's a major setback to the gas company's credibility.
30:17Now, the challenge intensifies.
30:20The gas company points out that neither the building nor its neighbours were connected to the gas supply.
30:27So if the culprit was propane, where did it come from?
30:32The team look at maps for all the utility pipes under the surrounding streets.
30:37It should be fairly simple.
30:39But instead...
30:41It was just a maze of pipes.
30:48There are gas pipes, two water mains, a sewer main, telephone conduits and electric conduits.
30:55More than 20 pipes in all.
30:59Then there's another hitch.
31:02As soon as they start to dig, it turns out the blueprints are incomplete.
31:07We found pipes, which nobody would claim, that was not being used.
31:13So, it was a pretty big mess.
31:17The team finds leaks in several places.
31:22They use inert nitrogen gas to measure the rate of leakage.
31:28Charles Batten knows the available space in the basement is 991 cubic metres.
31:34So he needs to find a gas flow big enough to fill the room.
31:41Nothing they find is big enough.
31:43All the leaks combined would fill less than a tenth of the basement.
31:47We were being somewhat frustrated in the sense that we couldn't find a source
31:53that would be likely to have provided the amount of fuel necessary to cause this explosion.
32:01Batten won't give in.
32:04Could there be a leak in a gas pipe that doesn't appear on the map?
32:08The gas company says no.
32:10He insists they look again.
32:13And eventually, they do find something.
32:17They did bring out, after considerable searching,
32:21a hand-drawn plan of this map that somebody had made when it was installed,
32:27but it was never entered onto their mapping system.
32:32Fitted 11 years earlier, an unmarked pipe ends about 24 metres uphill
32:37at a fast-food restaurant called the Chicken Kingdom.
32:40Could this be it?
32:46At last, their luck turns.
32:48Using safe inert gases, they show the suspect pipe still has a leak.
32:55Crucially, it's huge.
32:58In excess of 100 cubic feet per hour of propane gas.
33:04The investigators discover the pipe was installed in a tight, curving bend,
33:08putting it under abnormal strain.
33:14Then there's another surprise.
33:16Below the pipe, they find a new water main.
33:21Batten has a hunch.
33:24After the water main was laid down and the earth replaced, that backfill must have settled.
33:29Now there would be little to support the plastic pipe above.
33:34Already stressed from being bent into a curve, it could take no more.
33:39As time passed, as traffic loads increased, as rainwater helped to settle the soil,
33:46until the gas line lost its foundation for support.
33:52Eventually, the plastic pipe fractured.
33:58But Batten still has to discover how gas from the fractured pipe could reach the shoe store.
34:06He knows that propane can flow underground, like water.
34:11So the team pump test gases through the leak to see where they end up.
34:16As expected, they do travel.
34:23Following the path of least resistance, they seep through looser soil around any underground pipes in their path.
34:33They migrate downhill, around the water main.
34:37Batten realizes that some of the leaking propane could then jump across to electric ducting
34:42that leads to a meter room in the Umbeto Vidal building.
34:48At the end of this lies the shoe store basement.
34:52Since it's the only basement in the area, it would act like a well, trapping and storing the gas.
34:59It's a beautiful place for propane to accumulate as it leaked from down the hill.
35:05At last, Batten has a likely mechanism for getting gas into the shoe store basement.
35:13But he still has a major problem.
35:18If so much gas was leaking into the basement from the ground outside,
35:22why did none of the gas company's teams detect it?
35:31The gas company's test holes are still there in the ground.
35:35The NTSB re-checks these to see if some terrible mistake was made.
35:41The findings are a shocking indictment of the gas technicians.
35:47No hole is more than 46 centimeters deep, too shallow to reach the deadly gases migrating below.
35:56Knowing that the gas main was down about three to four feet deep, we knew that propane being heavier than
36:04air, you would not detect it in that bar hole.
36:08The gas company deny the holes are this shallow.
36:12Batten interviews the gas brigade technicians about this.
36:16They nearly all believe 46 centimeters is the correct depth.
36:21So it was not surprising that they did not find propane gas or any combustible gas around this area.
36:32After this extraordinary finding, Batten wonders what else went wrong.
36:37Why, for example, did the sniffer machine not detect any gas in the basement?
36:45An interview reveals the reason.
36:49To work properly, the sensor must first be switched on outside in uncontaminated air.
36:56Only then will it detect propane or any other gas.
36:59They were first opening and operating their equipment once they were in the building.
37:04So the fact that their equipment did not show evidence of gas was not surprising.
37:11At last, Batten knows how so much gas could build up undetected.
37:15But how did the explosion start? There must have been a spark.
37:20They check every light switch and the elevator machinery. No fault is found.
37:26Then, in the basement, near the air conditioning unit, investigators find a telltale sign of an explosion.
37:34Specs of black residue that mark where the blast first began.
37:40Further reinforcing evidence comes when they find the thermostat.
37:45The control wires have melted.
37:48And that would indicate to us that was near the source of ignition.
37:53As far as they can tell, this is very near the spot where the body of air conditioning man, Jorge
37:58Ibanez Sr. was found.
38:02Batten believes this is the final piece of the puzzle, solving the mystery of why 33 people died.
38:13Now, by rewinding the events leading up to that fateful day, we can finally reveal what really happened to the
38:20Umberto Vidal building.
38:22Why a deadly gas leak occurred? How the gas migrated? And why repeated tests failed to reveal it?
38:28Leaving the people of Rio Piedras seconds from disaster.
38:37Eleven years before the explosion, the gas company installs a gas supply to a restaurant 24 meters from the shoe
38:44store.
38:47It's bent into a curve, putting the pipe under permanent stress.
38:53Six years later, the water company installs a new main.
38:57They discover the unmarked gas pipe and fill in badly beneath it, robbing it of vital support from below.
39:06Gradually, the infill subsides.
39:08A couple of weeks before the disaster, the pipe finally fractures.
39:12It starts leaking propane at over 2.8 cubic meters an hour.
39:19Heavier than air, the hidden killer migrates downhill, seeping through soil around other pipes and convicts.
39:27Slowly, invisibly, it ends up in the basement of the Umberto Vidal building.
39:34A week before the disaster, store manager Arturo O'Neil rings the San Juan Gas Company to complain of the
39:41smell.
39:45The same day, gas company technician Ramon O'Farrell unpacks his gas sniffer somewhere in the building.
39:52He doesn't zero it outside in fresh air, so it fails to detect any gas in the basement.
40:02The next day, a gas brigade sink numerous test holes in the road outside.
40:11Five days later, only one day before the disaster, another brigade does the same.
40:19No hole is deeper than 46 centimeters, not deep enough to detect escaping propane as it flows around pipes beneath
40:26them.
40:29A simple misunderstanding about how two machines work means massive quantities of gas go undetected as they collect in the
40:37shoe store basement.
40:42Up to seven cubic meters of gas has now flowed into this basement area.
40:50The day of the explosion. One hour and forty-five minutes to go. Arturo O'Neil lets in the air
40:57conditioning man.
40:59Fifty minutes to disaster. Finished with his part of the job, Ibanez Jr. leaves his father in the building.
41:06At some unknown time, Ibanez Sr. descends to the basement to work on the air conditioning unit.
41:15Two minutes from disaster. Milagra Saavedra rushes from the shoe store to the third floor.
41:23Seconds from disaster. Ibanez Sr. flicks a switch on the air conditioning unit.
41:29Near the floor, a spark from the thermostat ignites the propane that has been gathering over recent weeks.
41:35It explodes with tremendous force.
41:43The release of energy is equivalent to up to 148 kilograms of TNT.
41:5833 people lose their lives in one of the biggest disasters Puerto Rico has ever experienced.
42:09But then comes a twist in the tail.
42:12The gas company, heavily implicated in the NTSB's preliminary report, fights back with its lawyers.
42:20They insist the whole investigation is flawed and the blasts could have been caused by sewer gas after all.
42:30If Charles Batten can't find solid proof of a propane explosion, the gas company will be off the hook.
42:37Justice and the safety of millions of Puerto Ricans are now at stake.
42:43Investigator Charles Batten is certain he's uncovered the cause of the massive explosion in San Juan.
42:50But there are still question marks over the investigation.
42:55Could the gas that exploded have been methane from the sewers?
42:58Batten has, after all, shown the possibility of a leak and how it could have traveled into the building.
43:06He's convinced that methane is very unlikely to have caused the explosion.
43:11But he hasn't yet disproved the gas company's hypothesis.
43:17Finally, six months later, after the building has been demolished, the clinching evidence is discovered lying in the site.
43:26This photo shows the underside of a beam that used to be part of the basement ceiling.
43:31It bears strange marks.
43:36These, crucially, are shoe prints, final proof that the blast originated at near floor level in the basement.
43:45And lo and behold, on the underside of a surviving beam were the footprints of shoes which had been blown
43:54upward.
43:54It's the evidence Charles Batten has been looking for.
44:00Methane could not have been the cause.
44:03Being lighter than air, it would have collected at the top of the room and blown the shoes downwards.
44:11At last, after six months of painstaking work, Batten has confirmation his theory is correct.
44:24Nine years on, many of those who lost loved ones are still struggling to come to terms with the disaster.
44:35I haven't gone back to Rio Piedras. I can't, because it still hurts.
44:43Orlando O'Neill still works for Humberto Vidal, but he finds it too painful to talk about life today without
44:50his brother.
44:52Milagro Saavedra is lucky to be alive.
44:56It took about two years to try to put me back together.
45:00But she's still determined to become a pastry chef.
45:05Jose Antonio Umpierre, the messenger, is unable to work.
45:10Still I'm under the treatment of a psychiatrist.
45:14Sometimes I'm three or four nights without sleeping.
45:19Some, though, have found a way.
45:22Jorge Ibanez Jr. has a spiritual attitude to the death of his father.
45:27I feel him at my side. He has never left me.
45:30And I don't believe he is going to leave me.
45:37The NTSB's damning report concludes that the San Juan Gas Company did not train its employees well enough
45:43and recommends they be retrained and tested regularly.
45:48The gas company denies the allegation, but is sued by many of the victims' families.
45:55Eventually, their claims are settled out of court, without any admission of liability.
46:03The disaster and its investigation result in major improvements.
46:09Ninety percent of the city's underground gas lines are removed.
46:13And a new computerized mapping system is introduced.
46:17The most significant outcome is that now in Puerto Rico, before anyone digs up the road,
46:23a new system guarantees one phone call will tell them exactly where everybody else's pipes are buried.
46:29This should prevent the recurrence of the sort of gas fracture that caused the Umberto Vidal disaster.
46:36In the rest of the world, underground delivery of propane gas is uncommon.
46:42Natural gas is almost universally preferred.
46:45It's less likely to collect below ground.
46:48But in Puerto Rico, the hope is that awareness, vigilance and education will prevent a huge gas explosion ever happening
46:57again.
47:18An unknown premier lady is moyen of relying on air pressure.
47:18This flirty expulsive illuminated and Devil to us Italia as well.
47:18But in Puerto Rico, to be able, requires you to see thepatient system.
47:18It's nicer which may be a small part of the state of the union's functioning of our own.
47:19Another Week in the Federal Reserve Orbiter Tunney aura Eux simモat .
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