South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Duplex Explosion Draws Another Lawsuit

Another lawsuit has been filed over a duplex explosion that killed four people on the Pine Ridge reservation.

The lawsuit filed in Oglala Lakota County Court this month on behalf of 13 plaintiffs names Nebraska-based Western Cooperative Company and South Dakota-based C. Brunsch Inc., doing business as Lakota Plains Propane.

The Rapid City Journal reports the lawsuit says each company supplied propane to one unit of the duplex, which was destroyed in the Oct. 2016 explosion that killed four and maimed three others. It seeks unspecified damages. The plaintiffs include survivors of three victims. The defendants have not yet filed a response.

A separate lawsuit was filed earlier against the two companies by the mother of a fourth person who died. A judge recently dismissed Western Cooperative as a defendant.

Topics Lawsuits