Lawsuit filed in death from Whitehall explosion
The family of a Spring electrical contractor who died from injuries after a fiery explosion at the Whitehall Hotel downtown last week has sued the hotel chain and others for at least $1 million.
According to a negligence suit filed in Harris County district court Friday, Jose Zadezensky, 72, and his stepson Jonathan Ruperez, 29, were working as contractors in a basement room of the hotel Nov. 10 when a violent explosion took place.
At the time, Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Blake C. White told reporters a transformer explosion had caused a fire to ignite. Soon after the explosion, thick plumes of black smoke billowed out of one side of the Whitehall Hotel. Hotel guests and others who were near the hotel the afternoon of the fire said they heard what sounded like an explosion.
Zadezensky died two days later from his injuries. The cause of his death, as well as the details of the accident, are under investigation, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said Friday.
In a suit filed Friday, Ruperez and others related to Zadezensky allege negligence by hotel owner Houston Hotel Associates Limited Partnership, LLP and other companies. Also listed as defendants are Sotherly Hotels LP, MHI Hotel Services dba Chesapeake Hospitality, CenterPoint Energy, and Reliant Energy.
Representatives of the companies listed as defendants in the suit declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
In the suit, attorneys for the family say the two men asked a hotel maintenance employee to shut off a breaker box to turn off any electrical currents while they worked.
The hotel employee, the suit says, told them he did not know which breaker should be turned off.
Zadezensky then asked for blueprints of the hotel’s electric lines so he could confirm which breaker needed to be turned off, the suit says. The hotel employee denied their request, the suit says, and instead guided them into another room.
There, the suit says, the employee notified the two men of a transformer that needed to be repaired. An aluminum ladder was standing in the room from previous repair efforts, the suit says, which Zadezensky tried to move.
“As soon as he touched the ladder, an electrical explosion occurred which resulted in a fire,” the suit says. “Ruperez was blown backward from the power of the explosion and fell to the ground. Upon turning back towards the explosion, Ruperez saw his father Zadezensky engulfed in flames.”
“Ruperez immediately ran to his aid in an attempt to put out the fire engulfing his father,” the suit says. “Ruperez tackled Zadezensky and was able to smother the flames.”
Zadezensky was diagnosed with burns on 85 percent of his body and 90 percent of his organs, the suit says; Ruperez also suffered severe burns.
The suit also says the hotel’s sprinkler system did not turn on until “several minutes” after the explosion.
A temporary restraining order was also issued Friday to halt cleanup and repairs at the hotel in order to preserve evidence.
“(Zadezensky) was unknowingly sent into what was essentially a deathtrap of uncontrolled electricity surges,” Derek Potts, who is representing the family, wrote in an email Friday. “Our client suffered one of the worst deaths there is: burning alive and living for several days before passing.”
Clarification: An earlier story gave an incorrect age for Zadezensky.