Two separate lawsuits have been filed against the owner of a Texas fertilizer plant, which exploded last week and killed 15 people. With 75 demolished homes and more than 200 injuries, a firestorm of lawsuits may soon follow.
The first two lawsuits accuse Adair Grain Inc., the company that owned the West, Texas fertilizer plant that exploded April 17, of negligence.
One of the lawsuits was filed by Andrea Jones Gutierrez, a single working mother who claims that she and her 14-year-old son “lost all of their worldly possessions”. The two lived in the apartment building next to the West Fertilizer plant, which was completely destroyed during the explosion.
Gutierrez had stepped out of the complex when she first heard the explosions, and her son was at church during the deadly blasts. Two other residents who remained in the apartment complex died during the explosion. While the Gutierrez family survived, they lost their homes and belongings and the woman suffered multiple injuries.
“Everything she and her child owned was completely destroyed,” Randy Roberts, the woman’s attorney, told NBC News. “She has physical and emotional injuries, but I’m more concerned about her emotional injuries.”
She is now seeking $500,000 to $1 million in relief from Adair Grain Inc.