The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is scheduled to hold a briefing tonight with an update on the investigation into Tuesday's deadly blast inside a downtown Youngstown building.
You can watch the NTSB's news conference in this story or on our KZitem page.
Tonight's briefing comes as the NTSB completes its second full day on the ground in the aftermath of the explosion at the Chase Bank building.
While no exact cause for the explosion has been determined, investigators are focusing on an abandoned gas line in the basement of the building that had been cut, yet was found to still be pressurized with gas.
"Preliminary information suggests that work crews were present in the basement of the building for the purpose of clearing out old utility infrastructure," explained NTSB board member Tom Chapman during a news conference on Wednesday. "A possible third-party cut to the pressurized service line is a central focus of our investigation to determine the cause of the gas release and subsequent explosion."
Chapman added that he did not believe there was anything suspicious about the cut line.
NTSB investigators will be in Youngstown for approximately one week. A preliminary report from the agency will come in approximately 30 days, with a final report to be released in 12 to 24 months.
The NTSB says it is leading the investigation because pipelines are considered a mode of transportation.
One person was killed and seven people hospitalized as a result of the explosion that took place at around 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The blast shook the downtown Youngstown area as bricks, glass and other debris littered the sidewalk. The body of 27-year-old Chase Bank employee Akil Drake was recovered in the early morning hours of Wednesday.
Newly-released surveillance video shows moments just prior to the blast, as residents inside Realty Tower are being evacuated due to a fire alarm.
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