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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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TVTranscripción
00:00An ordinary day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1996.
00:05Christmas is coming and the city is packed with Chavez.
00:10Then, a massive blast rips through the streets, overturning vehicles and causing widespread
00:16devastation.
00:17The 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.
01:09A bustling city in one of the most densely populated islands on 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 dollars.
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.
02:09Thursday, November 14th.
02:14Sara Ruiz, an employee in a department store on the main street, Jose Diego, smells something
02:20bad, she 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'Neil.
02:37He's 35 and well-liked by all his staff, including messenger Jose Antonio Unpierre.
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 the 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 out there to record store and a jewelers.
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.
04:168.22am.
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.
04:38The gas man, Ramon O'Farrill, knows a gas leak can be very dangerous, and he checks carefully around the
04:44basement.
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.
05:16The whole system is suffering the effects of years of underinvestment.
05:23Six days later, Wednesday, November the 20th, 6.45am, Arturo opens up the shoe store.
05:32And the mystery odor is still there.
05:37Today, it's stronger than ever.
05:41Shortly afterwards, Arturo's younger brother Orlando arrives.
05:47He's a salesman in another Humberto Vidal store just down the road.
05:51The two brothers are very close.
05:55We always had breakfast together, always.
05:58We either ate on the way in or took it with us to the store.
06:03But today, Arturo doesn't feel hungry.
06:06He's worried about the smell which seems worse in the early mornings.
06:13He asks his brother to check the basement, unusual.
06:20I went down the stairs.
06:21I couldn't go any further because my eyes messed it up.
06:26And I came back up.
06:337.15am, Milagros Saavedra arrives for work.
06:39Although she's got a good job as the Humberto Vidal human resources manager, her real passion
06:44is in the kitchen.
06:47My dream was to be a master in pastry making.
06:50So every weekend, I always took classes.
06:57Arturo asks Milagros if she'll check the basement.
07:02But Milagros smells something too and refuses.
07:07I didn't dare.
07:09I felt ill.
07:10I was scared.
07:11I didn't want to go down to the basement.
07:167.28.
07:18Although it makes no sense, Arturo is so concerned, he phones the gas company again.
07:279am.
07:2990 minutes later, another team from the gas company shows up.
07:3211.
07:35This time, their leader is Luis Marquez.
07:3712.
07:39Down in the basement, he sniffs the air.
07:4112.
07:41He can smell something.
07:4412.
07:44There's certainly an odor but he declares it's not gas.
07:48It's the smell of the shoes.
07:5112.
07:5213.
07:52Made from plastics and rubber, they're giving off a heavy cocktail of pungent fumes.
07:5812.
07:58Marquez says it's nothing to worry about.
08:0213.
08:069.30.
08:08Marquez now goes outside.
08:11He contacts his base and decides that following standard procedure,
08:14he should check the soil under the road for gas.
08:21The team drills narrow holes into the ground and inserts a gas-sensing probe.
08:29They make 18 holes and detect no gas.
08:3611.45.
08:39Satisfied they've done all they can, the brigade's next priority is lunch.
08:44Back at their base.
08:47Gas detectors are routinely checked, and during lunch Marquez has his tested.
08:53It's functioning perfectly.
08:57Back at the shoe store, Arturo is still worried.
09:00Everyone who comes seems to have a different theory about what's causing the smell.
09:05No one can reassure him over the mystery odor.
09:08The longer it persists, the more fearful he becomes that they could be heading for disaster.
09:19Thursday, November 21st.
09:21Something unusual seems to be happening in a shoe store in a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
09:286.45 in the morning.
09:30Two contractors arrive at the Umberto Vidal building to do maintenance on the air conditioners.
09:36Like many father and son outfits, they don't always see eye to eye.
09:43Father was difficult.
09:44That is, we had lots of problems between father and son.
09:48That is, we fought, but within 10 minutes, we'd already forgotten about it and carried on as normal.
09:55At the front door, they're met by shoe store manager, Arturo O'Neill.
10:02As soon as he unlocks the door, Arturo smells the pungent odor again.
10:06But neither of the air conditioning men think there's anything unusual.
10:12I didn't smell it, and I don't believe my dad smelled it.
10:17Arturo is getting more worried than ever.
10:20Is the smell just the odor given off by the shoes?
10:24Perhaps he's been working here too long, and his senses are playing tricks on him.
10:30He knows he must soon decide if he should open up the store to the public.
10:36At 7.30 a.m.
10:40Another gas company team arrives.
10:42They're aware that the shoe store manager says the smell is strongest in the early morning.
10:46And they begin to re-check the test holes made yesterday, to be absolutely sure.
10:537.50.
10:56Jorge Ibanez Jr. finishes his share of the work.
11:00He agrees to meet his father for lunch as usual, but first, he has another job to go to.
11:358.00 a.m.
11:36Is almost 3.00.
11:39Like little girls the world over, they're looking forward to getting their new shoes.
11:478.26.
11:48Inside the shoe store, Milagro Saavedra is chatting to co-workers about her pastry classes.
11:55Suddenly, she realizes she's going to be late for work in the upper storey offices.
11:59She rushes up to the third floor reception to punch her time card.
12:10At 8.29, manager Arturo O'Neil decides he will open the shoe store to the public, despite his concern
12:16about the smell.
12:20Jose Antonio, the messenger, is in the fifth-floor kitchen having coffee.
12:27By 8.30, Maritza Ramos is inside the shoe store with her young daughters.
12:33Including the offices and all the stores.
12:36There are now nearly 50 people in the Umberto Vidal building.
12:4110 seconds later.
12:59The huge blast tosses cars and trucks across the street, crushing passers-by.
13:09Miraculously, no one from the school is hurt, although moments earlier, the schoolyard was full of children.
13:18Within minutes of the explosion, the fire brigade and the police are on the scene.
13:24Cameras follow.
13:26The whole disaster is covered on live TV.
13:30For over 100 meters around, there's total destruction.
13:34A bustling street has become a horrifying disaster zone.
13:39Bodies are strewn everywhere.
13:42As the dust settles, it becomes clear that the Umberto Vidal building has sustained extraordinary damage.
13:50The ground floor, the mezzanine, and second floor are devastated.
13:54Leaving just the steel and concrete framed.
13:58Most of the third floor is intact, although the reception area collapses.
14:04The fourth and fifth floors are littered with glass and rubble.
14:09Whether people live or die depends largely on where they are when the building explodes.
14:16Worst off are those on the ground floor.
14:20Two stories of concrete collapse on top of them.
14:26Milagros and the receptionist have fallen four floors and lie on a heap of rubble.
14:33On the fourth and fifth floors, office staff, including the messenger Jose Antonio, are alive, but stranded.
14:43I thought we were all going to die.
14:46All the stairwells have collapsed, so there's no way down.
14:54Chief Superintendent Pedro Toledo heads the police effort.
14:58The people initially were inside the building searching at hand, trying to dig the survivors out.
15:06Milagros wakes up.
15:08Her friend, the receptionist, lies dead nearby.
15:12When I woke up, I was in amongst bits of rubble.
15:15I tried to lift myself up, but I couldn't.
15:18I was too badly injured.
15:20Eventually, a policeman scrabbles to reach her.
15:24The rescuer realizes she is seriously injured, and she must be moved only with the utmost care.
15:30He needs to get help and has no option but to leave her alone, surrounded by death.
15:37It was very difficult to get through that situation alone.
15:45Eventually, despite her injuries, she's brought to safety.
15:53Messenger Jose Antonio is still stuck on the fourth floor.
15:58And I'm thinking the worst, that it's all going to collapse.
16:03Firefighters and police begin a frantic effort to get a ladder to him.
16:10Amazingly, the two young daughters of Maritza Ramos are found virtually unscathed in the ground floor shoe store.
16:17Rescuers rush them to the medical center.
16:20The authorities have no idea who the girls are, so they put them on television, hoping to trigger a response.
16:27Hi.
16:28Hi.
16:29Maritza's sister, Janet, learns of the girls' plight and rushes to the hospital.
16:33No, it's my baby!
16:35No, come on, come on.
16:38It was the first time that they were anywhere alone without their mother.
16:44Why?
16:45The mother get me!
16:47One of the terrified girls manages to relate what happened.
16:52Jocelyn said to me, a wall fell down on mummy.
16:58The little girl tells that, although her mother was crushed under rubble, she held their hands and told them it
17:04would be all right.
17:07With the little life that she had, she had stood by her daughters, one in one hand and one in
17:12the other.
17:15Jocelyn and her sister held on to their mother until the policemen came to their rescue.
17:20Only then, when she was sure they were safe, did Maritza Ramos lose consciousness and die.
17:329.30 a.m.
17:34Rescuers have yet to reach the upper floors where Jose Antonio and several others are trapped.
17:43Finally, they get a ladder to him and his terrified co-workers.
17:49When they got me down, I had to pass over the top of all those people who were dead.
17:54I've never seen anything like it.
17:57Never in my life.
18:01The church across the road is a triage point for the injured.
18:07The dead are laid out in rows outside.
18:10Already, there are 18 bodies.
18:18Rescuers spend days clambering through the shattered building.
18:22But it becomes increasingly clear the chances of finding survivors are slim.
18:29Store manager Arturo O'Neill has yet to be found.
18:32His younger brother, Orlando, is distraught.
18:37It isn't easy to wait, to know he's there.
18:40How is he?
18:41If he died, was it instantly?
18:43If not, was he still alive?
18:50Five days after the blast.
18:52Tuesday, November 26th.
18:54The desperate rescue operation continues.
18:57But the death toll now stands at 29.
19:00Then comes another crushing blow.
19:07Engineers realize the entire building could collapse at any moment.
19:11Dozens of rescuers' lives are in danger.
19:15The engineers ask the chief of police to halt the rescue operation immediately.
19:20They want to make the building safe with a steel framework, a process that could take weeks.
19:26Yet even now, rescuers can't rule out the possibility that someone could still be alive.
19:34A fireman told me he heard somebody calling out.
19:42Pedro Toledo faces the toughest choice of his career.
19:48It is a very difficult decision, too, because you had family, people that were missing their loved ones, asking for
19:56them.
19:57Hundreds of anxious relatives await his decision, frantically worried that their loved ones are going to be abandoned, buried alive
20:05in the rubble.
20:10Five days after a massive blast rocks the city of San Juan, there are still people unaccounted for, and they
20:16could be alive under layers of rubble.
20:20Relatives are horrified to learn that the rescue mission could soon be called off.
20:28Police chief Pedro Toledo has an agonizing decision.
20:32He has to weigh the chances of anyone surviving against the risk of the building collapsing on top of the
20:37rescuers.
20:39It's a tough call.
20:51Police chief Pedro Toledo feels he has no choice.
20:54He orders in the heavy machinery, and the engineers get to work.
20:58It was very difficult to tell them that we had to stop because it was unlikely that it would be
21:03alive.
21:09Finally, 27 days after the blast, rescuers get through the rubble right down to the basement.
21:17They find the body of Jorge Ebanez Sr., the air conditioning man.
21:23Two days later, Arturo O'Neill's body is the last to be removed.
21:29The autopsy report shows he died of suffocation.
21:32It seems he survived the blast and died awaiting rescue.
21:37The final toll is 33 dead.
21:46So how could such a catastrophe happen?
21:49What could have caused such a loss of life?
21:57It could have been a criminal, it could have been an accident.
22:04Investigators arrive from several federal agencies.
22:09In charge of the team from the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB, is Charles Batten.
22:17Batten has investigated more than 300 accidents in his 23 years with the agency.
22:23Yet even he is shocked by what he sees in Rio Tierra.
22:27You're never prepared for walking into a disaster such as we saw with a building in shambles,
22:35blown across the streets, vehicles overturned.
22:39I don't think you ever get used to that.
22:43To add to the horror, local people are terrified a second explosion could happen at any moment.
22:50It's down to Batten to find the answers quickly.
22:57Now, by rewinding the disaster and going deep into the investigation,
23:01we can reveal what really happened to the Umberto Vidal building.
23:05How a perfectly ordinary shoe store exploded with devastating force.
23:11Advanced computer simulation will take us where no camera can go,
23:15into the heart of the disaster zone.
23:22At this stage, Charles Batten can rule out nothing.
23:27There was a possibility of a bomb being set in there.
23:30There was a possibility of arson.
23:34The most frightening scenario is that the blast was the work of terrorists.
23:39Could a group such as the Macheteros have planted a bomb or accidentally detonated a device?
23:46After all, they are capable of causing major destruction.
23:53Forensic investigators from the FBI and ATF scour the rubble.
23:58They know explosives leave a residue, a tell-tale chemical fingerprint.
24:05They take samples from the site.
24:10They send all the evidence to their lab for detailed analysis.
24:15If a bomb was involved, these tests will prove it.
24:20Meanwhile, rumours build throughout San Juan.
24:24Why would Macheteros attack the Umberto Vidal building?
24:29Could there be a clandestine bomb factory there that accidentally exploded?
24:33Or could less sinister explosives be responsible?
24:37Something like fireworks?
24:39There were rumours that there were some fireworks in the basement of the store.
24:45But could they have caused such a huge blast?
24:50Again, lab tests will provide the answer.
24:56While they wait for the results, the investigators move on to other possibilities.
25:01What else could have caused the destruction?
25:04Could it be arson?
25:07Ten years ago, in this very city of San Juan,
25:1097 people were killed when three arsonists set fire to the DuPont Plaza Hotel.
25:19If arsonists capable of this sort of damage are once again on the rampage,
25:24the consequences are terrifying.
25:29Arson, you would start looking at burn patterns in the building.
25:32If there were any flammable vapours still present.
25:37Things of this nature.
25:40Investigators take yet more samples.
25:42Now they're looking for flammable liquids, like gasoline or lighter fluid.
25:47Anything that an arsonist could use to start a fire.
25:52Then, when the lab results come in, there's a major turning point in the investigation.
25:59Not a single trace of high- or low-impact explosives or detonation materials is found.
26:06Nothing indicating arson is discovered either.
26:09The investigators rule out a terrorist bomb, illegal fireworks and arson as possible causes of the disaster.
26:18There was no explosives involved, so it left us with other possibilities, which we started pursuing.
26:26Satisfied that this is not a crime scene, the FBI and the ATF hand the investigation over to Batten.
26:34He's under tremendous pressure for answers, and he needs them now.
26:38In a few days, the safety authorities will demolish the building.
26:43His team photograph the rubble from every angle.
26:47They study their prints in detail.
26:50There must be some clue here.
26:53One of the things we tried to do is look at the damage to the building.
26:57What cracks were there, what type of damage the explosion had caused to the foundation walls,
27:04to the steel frames and so forth within the building.
27:07He also has his team interview every witness they can find.
27:11They eventually gather 110 statements.
27:14Most are in Spanish, and there are problems getting reliable translators.
27:18It's a mass of conflicting evidence, but lots of people do mention a bad smell.
27:26Batten is running out of options.
27:30He's left with one disturbing possibility that common sense would seem to rule out.
27:39Despite the fact that he's confirmed the building has no gas supply,
27:43and technicians have several times checked for gas leaks,
27:47Batten wonders, could Arturo O'Neill have been right all along?
27:53What if it was gas?
27:58If that's true, then who knows how many other lives are still at stake?
28:02How many other buildings throughout the city could be on the verge of exploding?
28:12Investigators are starting to narrow their focus into the baffling explosion of a shoe store in Puerto Rico.
28:18They've discounted terrorist action and arson.
28:24Now they're left with only one disturbing option.
28:28Somehow, a massive buildup of some kind of flammable gas must have ignited, destroying the building.
28:38There are two possibilities.
28:40Propane, as supplied by the San Juan Gas Company, or natural gases like methane from the sewers.
28:47Only three years ago, a methane explosion killed 50 men in a coal mine in South Africa.
28:55And the investigators are well aware that a year before that, gas built up in a sewer system in Guadalajara
29:02in Mexico.
29:04The gas exploded with devastating results, killing at least 200 people.
29:12Could this be a rerun of the Mexican blast?
29:15Could gas have escaped from the damaged sewers into the building?
29:20Batten first examines not the sewers, but what's left of the building itself.
29:26It's vital that he pinpoints the exact source of the blast,
29:29because this will give him crucial evidence on what kind of gas was involved.
29:39Propane is heavier than air, so we'll sink and gather in invisible pools near the floor.
29:46Methane, the main sewer gas, is lighter than air, so we'll tend to rise.
29:52And if it can't escape, we'll collect at the top of any space available.
29:57The gas company suggests that methane could have built up above a false ceiling in the disused part of the
30:03first floor.
30:05It seems plausible, so the team take a closer look.
30:10Then, just below, they find a large steel beam.
30:15Despite the blast, it's still intact, and its distorted shape reveals a vital clue.
30:23There was a very large beam there that had been shoved upward.
30:29The beam is bent up a full 15 centimetres from horizontal.
30:34It's so curved, the team give it a nickname.
30:36The Rainbow Beam.
30:42Immediately, they realize only one thing could have caused it.
30:47An explosion from below.
30:53Could heavier than air propane from the gas company be responsible for the carnage?
31:07The gas company, part of the powerful Enron Corporation, objects strongly to this line of inquiry.
31:15They go on the offensive, insisting they be allowed to take their own samples and photos.
31:21Charles Batten refuses.
31:24Against this disturbing backdrop, Batten carries on his own investigation.
31:31He orders his team to make a series of their own test holes to see if any gas is present.
31:38The results are shocking.
31:42They find very high concentrations of propane in the soil all around the building.
31:50It's a major setback to the gas company's credibility.
31:56Now, the challenge intensifies.
31:58The gas company points out that neither the building nor its neighbours were connected to the gas supply.
32:05So if the culprit was propane, where did it come from?
32:11The team look at maps for all the utility pipes under the surrounding streets.
32:16It should be fairly simple.
32:18But instead...
32:20It was just a maze of pipes.
32:26There are gas pipes, two water mains, a sewer main, telephone conduits, and electric conduits.
32:34More than 20 pipes in all.
32:38Then there's another hitch.
32:40As soon as they start to dig, it turns out the blueprints are incomplete.
32:46We found pipes, which nobody would claim, that was not being used, so it was a pretty big mess.
32:56The team finds leaks in several places.
33:00They use inert nitrogen gas to measure the rate of leakage.
33:06Charles Batten knows the available space in the basement is 991 cubic metres.
33:13So he needs to find a gas flow big enough to fill the room.
33:20Nothing they find is big enough.
33:22All the leaks combined would fill less than a tenth of the basement.
33:26We were being somewhat frustrated in the sense that we couldn't find a source that would be likely to have
33:34provided the amount of fuel necessary to cause this explosion.
33:40Batten won't give in.
33:42Could there be a leak in a gas pipe that doesn't appear on the map?
33:46The gas company says no.
33:49He insists they look again.
33:52And eventually, they do find something.
33:56They did bring out, after considerable searching, a hand-drawn plan of this map that somebody had made when it
34:05was installed,
34:06but it was never entered onto their mapping system.
34:11Fitted 11 years earlier, an unmarked pipe ends about 24 metres uphill at a fast food restaurant called the Chicken
34:18Kingdom.
34:19Could this be it?
34:25At last, their luck turns.
34:27Using safe inert gases, they show the suspect pipe still has a leak.
34:33Crucially, it's huge.
34:37In excess of 100 cubic feet per hour of propane gas.
34:42The investigators discover the pipe was installed in a tight, curving bend, putting it under abnormal strain.
34:53Then, there's another surprise.
34:55Below the pipe, they find a new water main.
35:00Batten has a hunch.
35:02After the water main was laid down and the earth replaced, that backfill must have settled.
35:08Now, there would be little to support the plastic pipe above.
35:13Already stressed from being bent into a curve, it could take no more.
35:18As time passed, as traffic loads increased, as rainwater helped to settle the soil, the gas line lost its foundation
35:29for support.
35:30Eventually, the plastic pipe fractured.
35:37But Batten still has to discover how gas from the fractured pipe could reach the shoe store.
35:45He knows that propane can flow underground, like water.
35:49So the team pump test gases through the leak to see where they end up.
35:55As expected, they do travel.
36:01Following the path of least resistance, they seep through looser soil around any underground pipes in their path.
36:11They migrate downhill around the water main.
36:16Batten realizes that some of the leaking propane could then jump across to electric ducting that leads to a meter
36:22room in the Umberto Vidal building.
36:27At the end of this lies the shoe store basement.
36:30Since it's the only basement in the area, it would act like a well, trapping and storing the gas.
36:38It's a beautiful place for propane to accumulate as it leaked from down the hill.
36:44At last, Batten has a likely mechanism for getting gas into the shoe store basement.
36:51But he still has a major problem.
36:57If so much gas was leaking into the basement from the ground outside, why did none of the gas company's
37:03teams detect it?
37:07Could something be wrong with their safety procedures?
37:11If so, in how many other places could disasters be waiting to happen?
37:16Well, if you get one here, I'll get that one tested on the other side.
37:20The gas company's test holes are still there in the ground.
37:23The NTSB rechecks these to see if some terrible mistake was made.
37:30The findings are a shocking indictment of the gas technicians.
37:35No hole is more than 46 centimeters deep, too shallow to reach the deadly gases migrating below.
37:45Knowing that the gas main was down about 3 to 4 feet deep, we knew that propane being heavier than
37:53air, you would not detect it in that bar hole.
37:56The gas company deny the holes up this shallow.
38:00Batten interviews the gas brigade technicians about this.
38:04They nearly all believe 46 centimeters is the correct depth.
38:09So, it was not surprising that they did not find propane gas or any combustible gas around this area.
38:21After this extraordinary finding, Batten wonders what else went wrong.
38:26Why, for example, did the sniffer machine not detect any gas in the basement?
38:33An interview reveals the reason.
38:37To work properly, the sensor must first be switched on outside in uncontaminated air.
38:44Only then will it detect propane or any other gas.
38:48They were first opening and operating their equipment once they were in the building.
38:52So, the fact that their equipment did not show evidence of gas was not surprising.
38:59At last, Batten knows how so much gas could build up undetected.
39:04But how did the explosion start?
39:07There must have been a spark.
39:09Cigarettes or a naked flame seem unlikely, given that Arturo was so concerned about the presence of gas.
39:17They check every light switch and the elevator machinery.
39:20No fault is found.
39:22While there were other electrical connections, the lights weren't on.
39:28The electrical connections didn't seem to have any faults on them.
39:33Then, in the basement, near the air conditioning unit, investigators find a tell-tale sign of an explosion.
39:41Specs of black residue that mark where the blast first began.
39:48Further reinforcing evidence comes when they find the thermostat.
39:52The control wires have melted.
39:56That would indicate to us that it was near the source of ignition.
40:00As far as they can tell, this is very near the spot where the body of air conditioning man, Jorge
40:06Ibáñez Sr., was found.
40:09Batten believes this is the final piece of the puzzle, solving the mystery of why 33 people died.
40:20Now, by rewinding the events leading up to that fateful day, we can finally reveal what really happened to the
40:27Umberto Vidal building.
40:29Why a deadly gas leak occurred.
40:31How the gas migrated.
40:32And why repeated tests failed to reveal it.
40:36Leaving the people of Rio Piedras seconds from disaster.
40:4411 years before the explosion, the gas company installs a gas supply to a restaurant 24 meters from the shoe
40:51store.
40:54It's bent into a curve, putting the pipe under permanent stress.
41:00Six years later, the water company installs a new main.
41:04They discover the unmarked gas pipe and fill in badly beneath it.
41:09Robbing it of vital support from below.
41:14For five years, traffic passes overhead.
41:17Water further settles the disturbed ground.
41:20Gradually, the infill subsides.
41:22A couple of weeks before the disaster, the pipe finally fractures.
41:27It starts leaking propane at over 2.8 cubic meters an hour.
41:33Heavier than air, the hidden killer migrates downhill, seeping through soil around other pipes and conduits.
41:42Slowly, invisibly, it ends up in the basement of the Umberto Vidal building.
41:48A week before the disaster, store manager, Arturo O'Neill, rings the San Juan Gas Company to complain of the
41:55smell.
41:59The same day, gas company technician, Ramon O'Farrell, unpacks his gas sniffer somewhere in the building.
42:06He doesn't zero it outside in fresh air, so it fails to detect any gas in the basement.
42:16The next day, a gas brigade sink numerous test holes in the road outside.
42:25Five days later, only one day before the disaster, another brigade does the same.
42:33No hole is deeper than 46 centimeters, not deep enough to detect escaping propane as it flows around pipes beneath
42:40them.
42:43A simple misunderstanding about how two machines work means massive quantities of gas go undetected as they collect in the
42:51shoe store basement.
42:56Up to seven cubic meters of gas has now flowed into this basement area.
43:04The day of the explosion.
43:06One hour and 45 minutes to go.
43:09Arturo O'Neill lets in the air conditioning man.
43:13Fifty minutes to disaster.
43:15Finished with his part of the job, Ibanez Jr. leaves his father in the building.
43:20At some unknown time, Ibanez Sr. descends to the basement to work on the air conditioning unit.
43:29Two minutes from disaster.
43:31Milagros Servetra rushes from the shoe store to the third floor.
43:37Seconds from disaster.
43:39Ibanez Sr. flicks a switch on the air conditioning unit.
43:43Near the floor, a spark from the thermostat ignites the propane that has been gathering over recent weeks.
43:49It explodes with tremendous force.
43:57The release of energy is equivalent to up to 148 kilograms of TNT.
44:12Thirty-three people lose their lives in one of the biggest disasters Puerto Rico has ever experienced.
44:23But then comes a twist in the tale.
44:27The gas company, heavily implicated in the NTSB's preliminary report, fights back with its lawyers.
44:34They insist the whole investigation is flawed, and the blasts could have been caused by sewer gas, after all.
44:44If Charles Batten can't find solid proof of a propane explosion, the gas company will be off the hook.
44:51Justice and the safety of millions of Puerto Ricans are now at stake.
44:57Investigator Charles Batten is certain he's uncovered the cause of the massive explosion in San Juan.
45:04But there are still question marks over the investigation.
45:09Could the gas that exploded have been methane from the sewers?
45:13Batten has, after all, shown the possibility of a leak, and how it could have traveled into the building.
45:20He's convinced that methane is very unlikely to have caused the explosion.
45:25But he hasn't yet disproved the gas company's hypothesis.
45:31Finally, six months later, after the building has been demolished, the clinching evidence is discovered lying in the site.
45:40This photo shows the underside of a beam that used to be part of the basement ceiling.
45:45It bears strange marks.
45:51These, crucially, are shoe prints, final proof that the blast originated at near floor level in the basement.
45:59And lo and behold, on the underside of a surviving beam were the footprints of shoes, which had been blown
46:08upward.
46:09It's the evidence Charles Batten has been looking for.
46:14Methane could not have been the cause.
46:17Being lighter than air, it would have collected at the top of the room and blown the shoes downwards.
46:25At last, after six months of painstaking work, Batten has confirmation his theory is correct.
46:38Nine years on, many of those who lost loved ones are still struggling to come to terms with the disaster.
46:57Orlando O'Neill still works for Humberto Vidal, but he finds it too painful to talk about life today without
47:04his brother.
47:06Milagro Saavedra is lucky to be alive.
47:10It took about two years to try to put me back together.
47:14But she's still determined to become a pastry chef.
47:19Jose Antonio Umpier, the messenger, is unable to work.
47:24Still I'm under the treatment of the psychiatrist.
47:28Sometimes I'm three or four nights without sleeping.
47:34Some, though, have found a way.
47:36Jorge Ibañez Jr. has a spiritual attitude to the death of his father.
47:42I feel him at my side. He has never left me, and I don't believe he is going to leave
47:46me.
47:51The NTSB's damning report concludes that the San Juan Gas Company did not train its employees well enough
47:57and recommends they be retrained and tested regularly.
48:02The gas company denies the allegation, but is sued by many of the victims' families.
48:09Eventually, their claims are settled out of court, without any admission of liability.
48:17The disaster and its investigation result in major improvements.
48:2390% of the city's underground gas lines are removed.
48:27And a new computerized mapping system is introduced.
48:31But to this day, Batten is still frustrated at the slow pace of progress.
48:36Certainly, I'm not happy that that's all that needs to happen.
48:39But I'm glad to see the progress that has come along.
48:44The most significant outcome is that now in Puerto Rico, before anyone digs up the road,
48:49a new system guarantees one phone call will tell them exactly where everybody else's pipes are buried.
48:55This should prevent the recurrence of the sort of gas fracture that caused the Umberto Vidal disaster.
49:02In the rest of the world, underground delivery of propane gas is uncommon.
49:08Natural gas is almost universally preferred.
49:11It's less likely to collect below ground.
49:15But in Puerto Rico, the hope is that awareness, vigilance and education will prevent a huge gas explosion ever happening
49:23again.
49:24The question of the world is also particularly in Puerto Rico, but in Puerto Rico, the U.S.A.N
49:25.A.D.
49:27The U.S.A.N.A.D.
49:28The U.S.A.N.A.D.
49:28The U.S.A.N.A.D.
49:28And N.A.D.
49:36The U.S.A.N.A.D.
49:41The U.S.A.N.A.D.
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