Body Found At Home Explosion Site
Posted February 17, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After more than three days of searching through the rubble of a house demolished by an explosion earlier this week authorities have discovered human remains.
One of the homeowners, Jyoti Moorthy, the wife of University of Toronto business professor Sridhar Moorthy, was home when the blast happened, and officials believe it was her remains found Saturday.
“It is with great regret and sadness that we’ve called this media conference just to confirm that the body of a female, who we do believe to be Jyoti Moorthy, was removed from the ruins at 2 Harper Gardens this afternoon,” said Toronto Police Det. Murray Barnes.
“The coroner has ordered an autopsy, and confirmation of the deceased’s identity will be made at that time.”
Moorthy’s husband and the couple’s two children were at school at the time of the blast.
“She was a lovely woman, an outgoing pillar of the community, well-established and well-connected within the neighbourhood,” said neighbour Mark Woolgar.
“It’s just a tragedy for that family.”
The massive explosion happened late Wednesday morning at 2 Harper Gardens, in the Mount Pleasant and St. Clair area, while an Enbridge Gas technician was working in the basement. He was performing what’s called a standard pipe replacement at the time.
Three Good Samaritans heard the man’s cries for help and pulled him from the burning rubble to safety. He was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for treatment of second-degree burns and remains in critical condition.
“Until we understand exactly what happened in this particular situation we put a hold on that work right across our system,” said Enbridge Gas spokesperson Arunas Pleckaitis.
The Fire Marshal is conducting a separate investigation into the cause.
The explosion sparked a four-alarm blaze that took hours to contain and prompted the evacuation of nearly two-dozen homes in the area.
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