3rd Victim ID'd In Lower Bucks Co. Nursing Home Blast

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A third person has died in the gas explosion at a Lower Bucks County nursing home last month, authorities said.

The third victim in the Dec. 23 gas explosion at the Silver Lake Nursing Home and Bristol Health and Rehab Center in Bristol Township was a resident of the facility, Bucks County Coroner Patti Campi said.

Campi identified the victim as 66-year-old Patricia Mero. The victim died at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne on Monday where they had been hospitalized since the blast, Campi said.

The Bucks County Coroner's Office released a statement Tuesday afternoon on Mero's autopsy that stated she died of chest trauma and that her cause of death was accidental.

"We express our condolences to the victim's family," Campi said.

A nurse and a resident were killed in the blaze. A GoFundMe page has been launched to support the nurse's family.

PECO Energy utility crews were on the site responding to reports of a strong gas odor inside the facility before an explosion tore through part of the building, shattering windows and prompting a massive response from emergency crews.

Over 50 emergency units from Bucks and Montgomery counties helped rescue the 120 residents and staff at the nursing home.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the gas explosion.

The first lawsuit was filed on Monday by a Philadelphia law firm on behalf of four people who were inside the nursing home when it exploded.

Morgan & Morgan — billed as America's top injury law firm — has also been hired by the victims involved in the explosion at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center, formerly known as the Silver Lake Nursing Home. Other law firms are representing the victims as well in other potential lawsuits.

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