Family Will File Second Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Utility

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- The family of Kenneth DeVeau of North Andover plans to file a lawsuit against Columbia Gas of Massachusetts and its parent company, NiSource Inc., that claims the company's negligence in last month's gas explosions led to DeVeau's death from complications following a heart attack. DeVeau's family plans to file the lawsuit once his sister is named executor of his estate. In addition to DeVeau, the family of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, who was killed when a house collapsed onto the car he was sitting on, plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the utility.

According to the Eagle-Tribune, which first reported this story, DeVeau,57, had a prior heart condition and tried to get transported to the hospital when he was ordered to evacuate on Sept. 13 as explosions destroyed or damaged 131 buildings in Andover, Lawrence and North Andover. DeVeau, however, ended up spending the night in a shelter at Andover High School and suffered a massive cardiac arrest the following day. He died of complications from the heart attack on Sept. 26.

"He had been resuscitated and brought to Lawrence General Hospital, and he was initially conscious," Marc Breakstone, the family's attorney, told the newspaper. "He was asking the doctors if his house had blown up ... He was crying because he thought that was why he was at the hospital ... He slipped into a coma, and died on Sept. 26 as a result."

For more on this story, see the Eagle-Tribune. Never miss another local news story: Get free local news alerts right to your inbox.

File photo of a temporary shelter during last month's gas explosions by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff