In February, a gas pipeline explosion beneath JJ’s, a popular restaurant in Kansas City, injuring 15 and killing one person. The family of Megan Cramer, a hostess at JJ’s who was killed in the blast, recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the six defendants whom they believe played a role in failing to prevent the tragic explosion that claimed their 46-year-old daughter’s life.
JJ’s was flattened by the gas pipeline explosion. Heartland Midwest was digging just outside JJ’s restaurant when it hit an existing gas line. Heartland Midewest, along with Missouri Gas Energy and its parent company Southern Union, USIC Locating Services, Time Warner Cable, and Michael Palier are named as defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Megan Cramer’s family is the latest to file suit related to the fatal winter explosion. The restaurant, several JJ’s employees and an employee of Heartland Midwest who was injured in the explosion are also seeking legal remedies for the Country Club Plaza blast. It has been alleged that Heartland did not request identification of buried gas pipelines before beginning to dig in the area and that Missouri Gas Energy failed to respond to the gas leak in a timely manner, which could have prevented the explosion.
The investigation into the cause of the explosion by the Missouri Public Service Commission is still ongoing. MPSC believes the investigation will be completed by the end of this month.
Source: The Kansas City Star, “Parents of JJ’s explosion victim file lawsuit,” June 1, 2013