Victim's sister speaks at Senate committee on gas explosions

LAWRENCE, Mass. — The sister of the teenager who died in September's natural gas pipeline explosions in Massachusetts has testified at a U.S. Senate hearing.

Lucianny Rondon, the sister of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, tearfully said Monday her family is seeking justice and won't let her brother's death "be without meaning."

Rondon was joined by her mother and father at the start of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's special hearing at a middle school in Lawrence.

The hearing is focused on responses to the Sept. 13 explosions and fires in the Merrimack Valley that injured about two dozen others, damaged more than 100 structures and left thousands without heat or hot water.

Leonel Rondon, of Lawrence, was killed when a chimney toppled by the gas explosions landed on his parked vehicle.

Associated Press