Hunt For Missing Woman Continues In Rubble Of Exploded House

It’s only a matter of time.

That’s the feeling of Toronto Police as they continue to pick through the rubble of a home that exploded on Wednesday.

The residence on Harper Gardens in the St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant area went up in flames as an Enbridge technician  did some work in the basement.

It’s believed a gas leak led to the blast, and several heroes pitched in to rescue the employee, who suffered second degree burns.

“He’s thankful to be alive. He owes his life to the people that pulled him out yesterday,” Det. Murray Barnes acknowledges. “The man’s got a second life. He knows that.”

The victim told several neighbours a woman was in the home at the time. But police wouldn’t confirm it.

That changed Thursday morning, when crews were finally able to enter the premises and cops claimed they were on a “recovery effort.”

The suspected victim: Jyoti Moorthy, the wife of prominent University of Toronto professor Sridhar Moorthy.

He’s reluctantly been forced to admit his spouse is unaccounted for and has given police permission to release her name.

“I’ve spoken to him and he has acknowledged it’s becoming public knowledge that his wife is missing and is believed to be in the house at the time of the explosion,” concedes Barnes.

Residents remain in shock over the events that have changed their neighbourhood forever, leaving a huge hole where a happy home once stood.

Many seem convinced Moorthy was inside at the time. “The woman who lives there didn’t pick up her kids at school yesterday which she does every day at noon,” points out neighbour Eugene Beck, who took some phenomenal pictures of the scene (see gallery below).

The U. of T. is trying to ease the teacher’s schedule to allow him to deal with the emergency and his grief.

“We’ve done everything so that Professor Moorthy can focus on his family at this time,” relates the university’s Ken McGuffin. “So we’ve taken care of his classes and other duties at the school.”

Neighbours remember Jyoti as a devoted mother whose life revolved around her children. They were at school at the time of the blast and weren’t injured.

The Fire Marshal remains at the scene conducting his own investigation into the cause. The Enbridge contractor was performing what’s called a standard pipe replacement when the house blew up. The company has now called a halt to that type of work but won’t comment on this specific case.

Specially trained dogs have been brought in to poke through the ruins for a trace of the suspected victim.

But police confirm they expect to have grim news sooner than later.

“At this point that she may well be still inside the house,” a grim faced Barnes allows. “The house is in total devastation.”

To see photos of the blaze provided exclusively to CityNews from viewer Eugene Beck of Toronto, click on the gallery below.

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