Law Enforcement Officials Ask Texas A&M To Delay Investigation Into Fatal Apartment Blast
Texas A&M President Robert Gates formed the task force to examine the management and communication problems concerning maintenance at the student complex where the July 31 blast killed a 4-year-old girl.
Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner said making information public to the university panel could interfere with the law enforcement probe.
``We just feel there's an obligation when someone dies of unnatural causes that law enforcement evaluate the case until we're convinced it was not criminal,'' Turner said in Tuesday's edition of the Bryan-College Station Eagle.
Lamiya Zahin, the daughter of Texas A&M graduate students from Bangladesh, died in the explosion. Her mother and paternal grandparents were severely burned.
Turner said he hopes to finish the inquiry in two to three weeks.
Gates said the university will comply with Turner's request.
An official cause has yet to be determined, but the girl's father said he reported smelling gas at the apartment building the night before the explosion. He told the newspaper that he also smelled gas early the next day but didn't report it.
A&M officials have said someone did report smelling gas that day, and a leak was identified outside the apartment building that night. Maintenance officials had decided to wait until Monday to fix the problems, A&M officials said early in the investigation.
Kunal Mukhergee, a 29-year-old doctoral student who lives several doors down from the family's apartment, said many of the building's residents have moved out.
``When you've seen somebody die in fire, people don't want to be here,'' Mukhergee said.
