Man dies days after being seriously injured in building explosion on Chicago's West Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The man seriously injured in a building explosion in the South Austin neighborhood earlier this week has died, according to Chicago fire officials.
The victim was identified as 29-year-old Shabron Robinson by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Robinson worked as a U.S. postal worker, according to Mack Julion, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
Julion described Robinson in a statement as having "a very spirited personality and was well liked by all who knew him. He will be greatly missed."
Seven others were also rushed to area hospitals - two of them were left in critical condition. All of which have since been released.
The explosion and collapse happened around 9 a.m. Tuesday. Fire officials confirmed the blast was caused by the ignition of natural gas but has not determined the cause of the ignition.
Peoples Gas, the company who provides gas to the building, said in statement that its service to the building was working properly.
"Our service to the site was working properly. There remains no reason to believe any of our equipment – or any other part of our system -- was responsible for the incident. As a reminder, piping and appliances inside the building are the responsibility of building management and/or residents," the company's statement said.
Urban Alternatives, the management company of the building, said in a statement that "improper use of an appliance is believe to be the cause of the explosion ... according to details provided to an insurance investigator."
"The insurance cause and origin investigator was informed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) that four of the five burners on the stove were fully open in the unit where the explosion originated. They believe that the cause was "improper use of an appliance."
The ATF said it has not made a determination and has not released any statements in the case. The Chicago Fire Department also has not confirmed the specific cause.
The apartment building had failed annual inspections repeatedly over the last 12 years, and received citations in 2017 and 2018 for "failing to repair or replace defective or out of service smoke detectors and operate continuously."
Building owner Roman Viere issued a response to the residents on Friday saying:
"We are sad to hear of the passing of one of our residents. Our prayers and thoughts go out to his family. We are grateful that there was no further loss of life from this tragedy.
We understand that, in many cases, our residents' entire lives were in those apartments. It's been our privilege to provide quality, affordable housing and we are doing everything we can to ensure that they continue to have the stability of a place to call home in a time when their lives are turned upside down."
Urban Alternatives said they're refunding September rent to all residents and offered new move-in-ready apartments to the 31 families the day following the explosion.
The company also says not all residents have taken the offer and some have yet to pick up their refunds.
