Bucks Coroner Confirms Third Death from Explosion at Bristol Nursing Facility

A third person has died, victim of the explosion and fire at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center days before Christmas. 

The Bucks County Coroner’s Office said it was contacted by St. Mary’s Medical Center on January 5  for the
death of  Patricia Mero, 66 year old female, who was a resident of the facility and
following the explosion was transported to the ER at St. Mary’s Medical Center with injuries sustained
from the blast.

Mero was pronounced at St. Mary’s on January 5 at 10:18am, the coroners office said.

She was transported to the Coroner’s Office in Warminster and examined the following day.

The cause of death was determined to be “Chest Trauma” and the manner of death being listed as accidental, First Deputy Coroner, Scott Croop said.

Mero is the third victim in the December 23, explosion and fire.

Credit: Parkland Fire Company

Muthoni Nduthu, a 52-year-old nurse, and a resident,  Ann Reddy also perished that day.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the  investigation into the explosion, which local officials said appears to have been fueled by natural gas.

First responder sources told Lower Bucks Source in the aftermath of the mass casualty explosion that a PECO work crew representative was not only on scene when but was in the basement of the facility when the explosion ignited.

Those sources said the PECO employee who was onsite performs inspections for gas leaks reported coming from the street, not leaks from the inside of buildings.

The PECO crew member and an employee of the facility were trying to detect where the apparent gas leak/odor was coming from.  Miraculously both survived said the first responder sources as both men were treated for concussions and subsequently released.

PECO officials told Lower Bucks Source,  “shortly after 2 p.m., PECO crews responded to reports of a gas odor at the Silver Lake Nursing Home at 905 Tower Road in Bristol Township, Bucks County. While crews were on site, an explosion occurred at the facility. PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents.”

The NTSB, which maintains jurisdiction over pipelines, is being assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, and local fire and police agencies in the investigation.

On overnights a Bristol Township Police officer has been maintaining watch over the explosion site.

NTSB investigators late last month detected various levels of natural gas in the soil near the Tower Road facility.