BUCKS COUNTY, PA ‒ A day after multiple explosions at a Pennsylvania nursing home killed two people and injured 20 others, authorities surveyed the extensive damage and began identifying the victims.
Muthoni Nduthu, 52, was named by the Bucks County Coroner's Office as one of the two people found dead inside the Silver Lake Nursing Home, also known as the Bristol Health & Rehab Center, after a pair of explosions partially collapsed the facility on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
Nduthu, a nursing assistant at the facility, was a mother of three who was featured in news stories over a decade ago when she bought her home through the local branch of Habitat for Humanity. Clinton Ndegwa, one of Nduthu's sons, declined to comment when reached by phone, reported the Bucks County Courier Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The deadly incident began around 2:20 p.m., when the first blast trapped dozen of residents inside the two-story building and triggered an intense search-and-rescue effort. Firefighters arrived on the scene and pulled frightened residents from windows, stairwells and elevator shafts as the building erupted into flames.
After first responders rescued two people from the building's collapsed basement, a second explosion rocked the facility, producing another ball of fire and spewing more smoke into the air, said Bristol Township Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito.
