Worker rescued after condo explosion dies

NORFOLK (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - A 48-year-old construction worker who was pulled from the rubble after an explosion at a Norfolk condominium has died.

Norfolk Fire Chief Coleman Bushnell says William Nichols of Blackstone died about 10:30 p.m. Friday at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Nichols worked for Deno Electric Inc. in Franklin.

He says four other workers were still hospitalized Saturday in stable condition.

State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan has not released a cause of Friday afternoon's explosion at a condo under construction at The Village at River's Edge, a community for people 55 and older. But Bushnell says it was accidental and probably was triggered by construction work in the basement that caused a rapid release of propane, which somehow ignited.

Nichols spent about an hour and a half under the burning debris, before firefighters were able to free him.