Human remains were found inside the burned-out SUV at the center of the pipeline explosion in suburban Houston, KPRC-TV reports.
The NBC station in Houston said police confirmed the remains were found when a team was processing the vehicle and that the case has now transitioned into a criminal investigation.
The remains were removed from the SUV and the vehicle was towed away from the scene. Identifying the remains is expected to take some time.
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Witnesses told KPRC the driver of the vehicle may have suffered a medical event, describing the moment the SUV was seen leaving a Walmart parking lot and driving slowly through bushes and a fence before crashing into an aboveground valve that set off the blast and lifted it into the air.
The explosion and resulting billowing tower of fire on Monday damaged several homes and vehicles and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 homes. Residents had to wait until the gas in the line burned out before they could return to their homes on Wednesday.
The pipeline, owned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer, carries natural gas liquids through the suburbs of southeast Houston, including Deer Park and La Porte.
Houston is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight, and some have been deadly, raising recurring questions about industry efforts to protect the public and the environment.
