Natural gas explosion in North Carolina kills 3, injures 40

A natural gas explosion at a Slim Jim factory in North Carolina killed 3 plant workers and injured 40 more.  Investigators determined that a contractor installing a hot water heater inside the plant vented the natural gas inside the plan instead of outside the plant.  The resulting explosion leveled half of the factory.

While all of the injured workers would be entitled to worker's compensation benefits, this accident is a classical situation where the families of the persons killed in this wrongful death accident can pursue a third party liability suit against the contractor.  It appears that the blame for this accident lies with the contractor, and since this is not the employer or a co-employee of the people injured in the accident, they can pursue a civil case based on the negligence of the contractor in failing to properly vent the natural gas. 

While this obviously will not bring back the people killed or restore the health of the injured, it does provide them with a fuller measure of compensation for their injuries and a degree of accountability for the contractor responsibile for this accident.