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July 17, 2007
Governor offers best wishes for persons injured in WAPA explosion and fire Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. this evening wished several persons injured in an incident at the V.I. Water and Power Authority Plant a speedy recovery. The incident, an explosion involving one of the largest generating units, catapulted the island-district into a complete blackout. WAPA officials continued the effort to restore electrical power. Five summer students who were exiting the power plant suffered burns and other injuries. They were treated at the power plant by a cadre of medical personnel before being rushed by ambulance for treatment and evaluation. All five, between the ages of 18 and 22, were admitted for observation. They were listed in stable condition as of 8 p.m. Tuesday. Hospital officials said tonight that two other patients who were received at the Schneider Regional Medical Center in connection with the WAPA mishap were discharged. WAPA officials did not independently confirm more than five patients as a result of Tuesday’s mishap. “Our community is grateful that the incident was not catastrophic. We offer our prayers for a speedy recovery of the young persons who suffered injuries today,” deJongh said shortly after leaving the scene of the incident at the Randolph Harley power plant. At the plant, deJongh joined leaders of WAPA, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Services and Police in a news briefing where the accident which occurred at 4:02 p.m. was detailed. “All the agencies responded well and it shows that the training put in place to respond to incident of this type has paid off. I am pleased that the young people are not as seriously injured as they could have been under the circumstances,” deJongh. The governor left WAPA and traveled to Schneider Regional Medical Center where he met with the families of the injured. “I wanted to convey to them the caring of our Virgin Islands community in times of unfortunate incidents and that we are behind them during their loved ones road to recovery.” Also at Schneider Regional, deJongh learned that a after a call was put out by the leadership team, a number of staff physicians who had already left the hospital returned to render assistance to the injured. “The response we saw today is truly indicative of a team of professionals who are at the ready to step into service when required to do so,” deJongh said. |
