Construction worker pulled from rubble of Mass. condo explosion dies; 4 others hospitalized

Man pulled from rubble of Mass. condo blast dies

NORFOLK, Mass. — A construction worker who was pulled from the rubble of an explosion at a Massachusetts condominium has died.

Norfolk Fire Chief Coleman Bushnell says 48-year-old William Nichols of Blackstone died at about 10:30 p.m. Friday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

He says four other workers were still hospitalized Saturday in stable condition.

State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan has not released a cause of Friday afternoon’s explosion at a condo under construction at The Village at River’s Edge, a community for people 55 and older. But Bushnell says the blast was probably triggered by construction work in the basement that caused a rapid release of propane, which somehow ignited.

Nichols spent about an hour and a half under the burning debris before firefighters were able to free him.