Two people were killed in an explosion at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut, Secretary Robert Wilkie said Friday.
"We received a report this morning that an explosion occurred at the West Haven campus of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System that resulted in two deaths in a non-patient care area," Wilkie said in a statement.
Neither of the two people killed were VA patients, and "patient care was not affected," Wilkie said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said that one of the people killed was a VA employee and the second person was a contractor. Three workers were also injured.
West Haven police said on Facebook that the explosion was "an isolated incident with no threats to the public."
Gov. Ned Lamont said state emergency management officials were working with local and federal agencies to respond to the explosion.
"Early indications are that this appears to have been caused by a steam pipe," Lamont said. "At this time we can confirm that there have been two deaths, and our hearts go out to their families and colleagues at the VA center. This is a heartbreaking tragedy, and I have instructed our state agencies to provide full resources as the response and investigation continues.”
Medical Center Director Al Montoya said during a press conference Friday that the steam pipe a maintenance crew was replacing exploded, tearing through an administrative building on the hospital campus.
One of the workers who died was a Navy veteran, Montoya said, adding that the veteran decided to work for VA to support other vets.
"He wanted to give back those men and women who fought so hard," he said. "It's moments like that that really tear at your heart and tear at your soul."
"Our prayers are with the families of the victims of this explosion," Wilkie said in his statement.
During a press conference, Connecticut lawmakers seemed to place at least part of the blame for the explosion on aging VA infrastructure.
Blumenthal said he planned to push harder for modernization of VA facilities including the West Haven Medical Center, which was constructed in the 1950s and requires frequent repairs, he said.
"This tragedy is only the latest indication that this building is past it's 'sell by' date," Blumenthal said, adding that many other VA facilities are aging and need major renovations or replacement and that it's "on Congress to fully fund" those rebuilding efforts nationwide. Blumenthal serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
VA is already undergoing the beginning stages of its Asset and Infrastructure Review, a major analysis of its facilities across the country intended to help decide which facilities to close, rebuild, renovate and where new facilities may be needed. Critics of the process have compared it to the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. A nine-member VA Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission will eventually send a report with realignment recommendations to the president and Congress in 2022 or 2023.
More than half of VA facilities are older than 50 and some are 100 years old, Wilkie told Congress previously.
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